KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 29,136 entrepreneurs in the Indian community have received funding under the Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Financing Empowerment Scheme (Spumi).
Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk R. Ramanan said as of March this year, the entrepreneurs received a total of RM458 million in funds.
"Since the scheme was implemented in 2008, the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) has received an allocation of RM421.5 million to carry out Spumi," he told a press conference after attending the cheque handover ceremony for the Tekun Spumi and 'Spumi Goes Big' initiative at the Tekun Nasional office here today.
Also present were Tekun Nasional chairman Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid and chief executive officer Datuk Adam Abdul Ghani.
Meanwhile, Ramanan said the Spumi Goes Big, which was launched in April this year has processed 81 applications worth RM7.2 million during its first two months.
"Of that total, 51 applications have been approved, and 27 applications are in the process of approval by the board , while three applications were rejected.
"Only 13 recipients of Spumi Goes Big from the overall total managed to attend this afternoon's event because the rest of them live in states far from here.
"They will all receive the funding through the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) method in the near future."
Ramanan also reminded borrowers under Tekun Nasional to repay their loan on time to ensure the scheme could be enjoyed by other entrepreneurs.