By Sofia Nasir
SHAH ALAM, Oct 9 — State executive councillor for youth, sports and entrepreneurship Mohd Najwan Halimi said he is ready to meet with Yayasan Hijrah Selangor to study and review several funding application criteria.
Najwan said the agency earlier decided to improve on funding conditions after several borrowers failed to make repayments.
“We decided to improve the funding application conditions as they were quite relaxed before. When they are that relaxed, it lets borrowers be irresponsible.
“I will meet Hijrah Selangor and we will review if there are conditions we can consider (amending),” he said.
Earlier, Najwan attended a focus group discussion with around 100 creative industry representatives at Sunway Resort Hotel here today.
He said he takes the issue of late or failed repayments seriously, and that Hijrah Selangor now acts strictly against irresponsible borrowers.
“This issue is serious. Hijrah Selangor is updating its collection process and will take more severe action against errant borrowers,” he said.
In January, Hijrah Selangor chief executive officer Dato’ Mearia Hamzah said the agency would make a more concerted effort this year to claim arrears, totalling over RM100 million, accumulated since 2015.
Mearia said the arrears, involving 16,000 accounts, must be claimed to enable turnover for new borrowers.
Since its establishment in 2015, Hijrah Selangor has offered various funding schemes such as i-Bisnes, Zero to Hero, Go Digital, dan Niaga Darul Ehsan Funding.
The agency also offers i-Lestari, i-Agro and i-Bermusim to help entrepreneurs with capital and business growth.