KUALA LUMPUR, 30th October – Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) today officially launched the BizWanita direct financing product to enhance access to financing for women entrepreneurs.

The BizWanita is the second direct financing product to be launched by CGC within the last 18 months as part of its initiative to reach out to a wider cross section of the business segments, especially for new businesses that have shown great growth potential. Besides filling the gap on accessibility to financing for women-owned businesses, BizWanita is also aimed at enhancing access to financing for businesses and companies that are managed or operated by women or companies where women form the majority of the workforce.

Speaking to the press after the launch ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Finance II, YB Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said that the launch of BizWanita by CGC is a step in the right direction as there are pockets of new but potentially viable businesses that are out of the financial institutions’ radar for mere lack of collateral or track record. BizWanita would help to empower and support enterprising women across the nation who are planning to start or take their business to the next level.

“Our objective is to enable women entrepreneurs to avail financing from CGC directly through our 16 branches nationwide and also at competitive terms,” said CGC’s President/Chief Executive Officer, En. Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak. “We offer financing rate as low as BFR +0.20% even though no collateral is required under the BizWanita direct financing facility.”

The BizWanita is based on the concept of Commodity Murabahah, a Syariah-compliant product that offers financing ranging from RM20,000 to RM300,000 with a repayment tenure of up to seven (7) years.

Women aged between 21 to 60 with a business license registered in Malaysia under a local authority, and an enterprise that comes under the SME definition as stipulated by the National SME Development Council (NSDC) are eligible to apply for financing under BizWanita. Besides, the company must be Malaysian-controlled or Malaysian-owned with at least 51% shareholding.

“CGC has allocated RM30 million for BizWanita which is expected to benefit about 500 SMEs. Within the next three (3) months, we aim to approve RM7 million worth of financing for this product”, added Zamree. “Since the soft launch on 1st October 2015, we have already approved 17 applications valued at RM2.45 million.”

With the launch of BizWanita, CGC has upped its direct-financing amount to about RM95 million. In May 2014, CGC launched BizMula-i direct-financing product for start-ups with a fund size of RM30 million which was subsequently increased to RM65 million.

As at September, CGC has approved about 6,900 loans valued at RM2.6 billion through its array of guarantee and financing products, demonstrating a positive outlook exceeding its 2015 target of RM3.0 billion by RM600 million.

“In line with our vision to be an effective financial institution dedicated to promoting the growth and development of competitive and dynamic SMEs, CGC will continue to assist potentially viable SMEs by offering innovative products to improve our SME outreach,” stated Zamree.

The launch ceremony was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Finance II, YB Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani. Also present at the event to witness this launch ceremony was the Chairman of CGC, Dato’ Agil Natt and President / Chief Executive Officer of CGC, En. Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak, CGC Board members, Bank Negara officials, representatives from various financial institutions, trade chambers and CGC’s customers.