Fatimah speaks at the press conference. She is flanked by Dr Rashidah and Jemat.
KUCHING: The deferment of loan payback to Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) microcredit scheme during the current Movement Control Order (MCO) and Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) periods in Sarawak should bring relief to the borrowers, said Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
The minister said in her Dalat state constituency alone, there were 1,043 borrowers – otherwise known as ‘Sahabat AIM’ (Friends of AIM) – who had requested for their weekly repayment to be deferred in view of Sibu Division being under MCO, while other divisions across the state are under CMCO.
“Under MCO, many of their business premises are not in operation, and their movements are restricted, so they have little or no income during this period; thus, finding it hard to pay back their weekly AIM loan.
“With the news of the AIM loan payback deferred until the lifting of MCO and CMCO, it would surely be a relief for them,” she told reporters here at a press conference held after a meeting with AIM Sarawak representatives yesterday.
Fatimah also said her ministry intended to work with AIM in eradicating poverty among women entrepreneurs through various programmes.
“The collaboration would be a win-win situation, as both entities are focusing on poverty eradication and also women empowerment through business.
“The ministry, through its Women Department, would help ‘Sahabat AIM’ with training in areas such as financial literacy and product quality management.
“These (skills) should be value-added benefits for them,” said the minister, expressing her hope that the success rate of getting out of poverty would be high for the participants.
Another meeting would be called on a later date to discuss the collaboration in details, she added.
Meanwhile, Fatimah encouraged all ‘Sahabat AIM’ to practise ‘alternative ways’ in doing business during this time.
“We hope Covid-19 would be gone soon so that our women entrepreneurs would be able to operate their business as usual.
“Until then, however, they can also make use of platforms such as WhatsApp to do business and promote their products – at least they would gain some income from there, rather than nothing at all.”
Fatimah was also pleased to note that the majority of Sahabat AIM in Sarawak were able to make loan repayments on time.
“In Sarawak, 99 per cent of borrowers are able to pay back their loans – showing that they have a high sense of responsibility.
“After all, they are borrowing the money to do business in order to increase their household incomes.”
The ministry’s permanent secretary Dr Rashidah Bolhassan and AIM Sarawak assistant regional manager (southern region) Jemat Itu Bujang were also present at the press conference yesterday.
AIM has been established in Sarawak for over 20 years. To date, it has a total of 44,946 active Sahabat AIM statewide.
The AIM loan application is open to all Malaysians under the ‘Bottom 40 Per Cent’ (B40) group.