BUTTERWORTH: Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Minister of Finance Inc, plans to issue at least RM200 million worth of bonds next year to reduce its dependency on government-guaranteed loans.
Chief executive officer Nizam Mohamed Nadzri said MDV would also get a local rating agency to rate the bonds.
“This is so that we can issue bonds based on stand-alone ratings to raise our own funds and reduce dependency on government-guaranteed loans,” he told reporters after MDV’s Client Engagement Programme here yesterday.
He said the bonds were expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2020, but added that this also depended on the sufficiency of its current funds.
According to him, MDV currently has about RM270 million in funds, enough to finance some 50 companies until next year.
“We have issued RM11.7 billion in loans since 2002 which benefited 800 companies comprising mainly small and medium-sized technology and technology-based enterprises, and we have received about RM9 billion in reimbursement.
“There is still a principal sum of about RM1.5 billion owed to us by 180 companies,” he said.
Meanwhile, MDV chairman Datuk Seri Lee Kah Choon said local small and medium enterprises should take up the loans, especially renewable energy, telecommunication infrastructure, digitalisation and start-up companies.
He said MDV’s financing for the energy efficiency sector currently stood at RM99.1 million, due to increasing focus on green technology and energy efficiency.
“Currently, 30 percent of the renewable energy projects such as solar and hydro are funded by us and we foresee the sector’s growth will be an essential shift in how Malaysia perceives the role of natural resources and the environment in its socio-economic development,” he said.
Lee said MDV had the flexibility to understand the problems and risks in financing technology projects. –Bernama
It is also capable of developing programmes to fund high-risk projects by establishing appropriate credit assessment methodologies.
“MDV’s financing and government incentives which are specifically tailored for energy service companies can steer the implementation of energy efficiency project in the building sector and spur sustainable technology growth in the country,” he added. –Bernama
