Penjana Tourism Financing – applications open

PETALING JAYA: The applications for the Penjana Tourism Financing (PTF) can now be submitted to the participating member banks, according to the Association of Banks in Malaysia, Association of Islamic Banking and Financial Institutions Malaysia and Association of Development Finance Institutions of Malaysia.

The PTF, which is aimed at supporting Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the tourism sector by preserving their capacity and assisting them to adjust and remain viable post Covid-19, can be utilised for working capital and capital expenditure to enhance their business models and deploy new practices.

Malaysian MSMEs in the core tourism sector and tourism-related sectors which are either MSMEs as defined by SME Corp Malaysia, or MSMEs licensed by/registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture are eligible to apply for the PTF.

The eligible sectors in core tourism are tourism accommodation premises (example budget hotels, registered homestays, chalets and resorts), travel agencies and tour operators, and transportation for tourists (example bus, boat and car rental operators). Other eligible tourism related sectors includes medical tourism, meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition ecosystem, money changing operators who mainly serve inbound and outbound tourists as well as tourism related retail, recreation and wellness businesses with significant reliance on tourists. The PTF will be offered by 12 banks. To ensure the PTF benefits more MSMEs, the maximum financing amount is RM300,000 for eligible small and medium companies, and RM75,000 for eligible micro enterprises. In addition, the PTF will only be accessible to MSMEs that did not benefit from the Special Relief Facility and/or the Penjana SME Financing. Under the PTF, the financing rate will be up to 3.5% per annum for a financing period of up to seven years. The PTF will also include at least six months’ repayment deferment to ease the cash flow of SMEs.