Published: on 13 May 2012
By Roziana Hamsawi
KUALA LUMPUR: The RM500 million syariah-compliant Commercialisation Innovation Fund (CIF) should consider inviting industry representatives to help in evaluating the right and qualified applicants.
Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) president Aziz Ismail said having industry experts in the fund evaluation panel will further enhance the quality of the fund applicants.
When contacted by Business Times yesterday, he said TeAM is supportive of the launch of the CIF as it will encourage technopreneurs to be innovative in creating products and solutions that will be commercialised to the global market.
The CIF was first announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his Budget 2012 speech last year and was officially launched in Shah Alam on Thursday.
The funds were revealed as part of the drivers to boost SME growth and further establish Malaysia as an Islamic financial hub.
The CIF will enable SMEs to commercialise research products which have undergone market commercialisation verification process, said a banker from one of the 13 participating Islamic financial institutions.
This incentive, added the banker, will be an incentive for SME innovators to navigate their businesses through their growth stage while overcoming some possible hardships of shrinking margins.
The banker said credit for start-up ventures in the fields ofIT, technology design and software development is not easily obtained from commercial banks, thus making the CIF as an ideal choice for them to get financial support.
The CIF will be open for application to all 1-InnoCert (a certification for innovative companies) firms effective July 1 and qualified companies could apply for aid of up to RM5 million from the fund.
The government, through the SME Corporation Malaysia, will bear two per cent of the profit rate charged and this rebate will be given to financing facilities approved in 2012 and 2013.
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