Legislators today endorsed enhancements to the small and medium enterprise funding Schemes to provide greater support and flexibility to SMEs amid the global financial turmoil.

Under the SME loan guarantee scheme, the sub-ceilings for business installations and equipment loans, and working capital loans, will be removed, while the overall maximum amount of guarantee for each SME is maintained at $6 million.

The maximum guarantee period for working capital loans will be extended from two years to five years. Each SME will also be allowed to recycle the guarantee once after it has fully paid up the loan backed up by the guarantee. This means each SME will be able to obtain a maximum amount of guarantee of $12 million in its lifetime.

The indicative ceiling of guarantee exposure for each participating lending institution will rise from $1.25 billion to $1.5 billion, to provide more quota for the institutions in granting loans.

As for the SME export marketing fund, the overall grant ceiling for each SME will rise from $100,000 to $150,000, and the sub-ceiling for each successful application will rise from $30,000 to $50,000.

The scope of reimbursable items has been extended to include spending on advertisements placed on the websites of exhibition organisers and printed trade publications targeting export markets.

The enhancement measures for the export marketing fund will take effect November 3.

For enquiries call 2398 5125. Click here to download the application form.