KUALA LUMPUR (May 10): Following the imposition of the Movement Control Order 3.0, the Selangor state government announced a deadline extension on applications for the Selangor Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Digitalisation Matching Grant.
The deadline for the grant, which was originally due on May 15, 2021, has since been extended to June 15, 2021.
Selangor Chief Minister Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari launched the grant programme on April 12 this year to help SMEs in the state with their digital transformation efforts. To-date, the state government has received 200 applications.
Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) SME chairman Koong Lin Loong welcomed the announcement.
According to him, retail and service businesses in Selangor were only just starting to turn a corner when they were hit with the MCO 3.0 and the MySejahtera Hotspot Identification for Dynamic Engagement (HIDE) double whammy.
“A lot of shopping complexes and office buildings, not just in Selangor but soon also in Kuala Lumpur, will be required to close for the next three days to facilitate comprehensive sanitisation efforts. This will undoubtedly affect businesses in terms of collections, sales and cash flow.
“Businesses like saloons and beauty parlours, gymnasiums and fitness centres, cinemas, as well as tourism-related businesses have really struggled over the last year, so the rush to impose MCO 3.0 has been quite jarring.
“We also note there are sometimes differences in MCO standard operating procedures as between the Selangor state and federal governments. This has caused a lot of confusion among businesses in the state,” Koong said.
Selangor-based SMEs may apply to receive the digitalisation grant across five digitalisation areas: e-commerce, HR and payroll, cloud accounting, digital marketing, and electronic point of sale (e-POS) and payment gateway.
Eligibility criteria for SMEs:
- Registered under the relevant laws of Malaysia
- Must be at least 51% owned by Malaysians
- Business address or operation address registered in Selangor only
- In operation for at least one year
- Required to have a minimum annual sales turnover of RM300,000 and not exceeding RM1 million
- Limited to one application per company only. However, SMEs are allowed to apply for up to three digital services with one or more service providers that are endorsed by the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC)
For further information about the grant, please visit: https://www.sidec.com.my/selangorgrant2021/.