KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) has co-invested RM289 million via alternative financing platforms in 2023, consistently spurring growth and enhancing competitiveness of Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

MyCIF is a co-investment fund established by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) under 2019 Budget to co-invest in MSMEs through equity crowd funding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) financing platforms.

The Securities Commission (SC) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Awang Adek Hussin said MyCIF has fuelled close to RM2 billion in private investments via the RM289 million last year, proving to be instrumental in fostering the growth of the ECF and P2P segments.

He said the agriculture sector in particular saw an 86 per cent increase in issuers supported by the MyCIF agriculture scheme. 

"Furthermore, MyCIF was able to reach a higher proportion of MSMEs outside Klang Valley to 49 per cent from 40 per cent the previous year. This is a testament to MyCIF supporting inclusivity among MSMEs," he said in  MyCIF's Annual Report 2023 released today.

According to the SC, MyCIF received a total allocation of RM250 million from the government since it inception, and successfully co-invested RM930 million in over 6,000 MSMEs, achieving a 3.7 times multiplier effect. 

This drew in RM3.82 billion in private investments, bringing the total funds raised with MyCIF's support to RM4.75 billion.

Additionally, the SC said MyCIF has generated a net positive return on capital amounting to RM20.7 million or 8.2 per cent of the total allocation from the MoF.

"With an additional RM100 million allocated in Budget 2024, MyCIF will continue to support initiatives in focus areas namely, agriculture, healthcare, education, environment, community and waqf asset development through state Islamic religious councils in tandem with the food security and sustainability agenda," it said.

In April, MyCIF announced two new incentives for MSMEs in the upstream agriculture and bio-economy sector, effective until end of 2025, including investments at zero per cent financing rate in eligible P2P financing campaigns and foregoing dividend income from investments in eligible ECF campaigns.

This is followed by the recent announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Global Forum of Islamic Economics and Finance (GFIEF) to extend these incentives by including MSMEs financing waqf asset development projects falling within the same upstream segment of agriculture, recognising waqf's role in advancing the national food security agenda.

Building on the success of MyCIF, SC said other co-investment schemes have been identified as a pivotal component of its five-year MSME roadmap to enhance MSME and mid-tier companies access to the capital market.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/05/1057351/mycif-co-invests-rm289mil-spur-growth-msmes