KUALA LUMPUR: The government has allocated RM2 million to microcredit facility Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM), increasing its funds to a total of RM2.7 billion.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his 2018 Budget announcement said the allocation would benefit about 400,000 potential entrepreneurs.
He also cited a success story of one Wan Azizah Wan Salleh, an entrepreneur in the poultry industry who had benefited immensely from the facility.
Najib said Wan Azizah, who was also present at the Dewan Rakyat was provided with an RM500,000-loan from AIM when she started her business in 1993.
“Wan Azizah is a now millionaire who has benefited from AIM to spur her poultry business,” Najib said.
Earlier, Najib’s introduction of Wan Azizah as a success story had the august house in stitches when most had earlier assumed that the prime minister was singing praises for Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.