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Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Launches RM500 Million Public Transport Fund
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KUALA LUMPUR, 2 MAY 2019 — Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad announced today the launch of the RM500 million Public Transport Fund aimed at encouraging public transport adoption by improving and enhancing the related infrastructure in the country.

“Despite the heavy investment into rail and bus services, the public transport modal share remains low and we acknowledge that our public transportation system still has room for improvement. Through this fund, we hope to increase the number of Rakyat using public transport by financing the system’s improvement,” Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng said at the launch in Kuala Lumpur today.

Notwithstanding the recent completion of the latest train lines such as the MRT Line 1 and LRT2 extension, a lot still needs to be done to achieve the Government’s target to increase public transport’s share of journeys to 40% by 2030, from 21% in 2017. It was previously reported that Malaysia's car ownership stood at 93% as of 2014, making it the third highest in the world.

In most Malaysian households, transportation cost constitutes the second-biggest expense item after housing and through the provision of an efficient and integrated public transport system, it will help address the issue of elevated living costs for the Rakyat, especially those from the B40 and M40 income groups.

Under the Public Transport Fund, a 2% financing rate subsidy will be given to the successful applicants. The funding may be used to purchase vehicles like taxi, bus or other types of public transport, and can be utilised by the operators, suppliers, manufacturers, assemblers of public transport vehicles and contractors, as well as developers of these infrastructure.

The Public Transport Fund is one of three separate funds totalling RM4.5 billion which the Ministry of Finance has mandated Bank Pembangunan to manage in the Budget 2019. This follows the Industry Digitalisation Transformation Fund and Sustainable Development Financing Fund launched in March.

An efficient public transportation system is not only important for the quality of life of the population, it is also more sustainable for our planet. In Malaysia, transportation is the second highest energy consumer after electric power generation. Of this, road transportation accounts for the vast majority, or 85% of transportation emissions, with about 59% attributable to cars. The roadmap for the future is to champion the push towards the use of non-emission vehicles to reduce the global carbon footprint.

“Reforming urban transport can also be a strong catalyst for Malaysia to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations under Agenda 2030, a global call for action to end poverty, spur economic growth, while tackling climate change,” said Datuk Zaiton Mohd Hassan, Chairman of Bank Pembangunan.

 

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About Bank Pembangunan

Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad (BPMB) was incorporated on 28 November 1973 with a role in the development of Malaysian economy by assisting entrepreneurs involved in small and medium-sized industries through the provision of various financing facilities, training and advisory services, particularly to the Bumiputera entrepreneurs.

Today, BPMB is mandated to provide medium to long-term financing to the infrastructure, maritime, technology and oil & gas sectors. Through its wholly-owned subsidiary Pembangunan Leasing Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (PLC), BPMB also provides financing to small and medium-sized businesses including those involved in manufacturing, construction, supply, transportation, agriculture, hospitality and information technology.

With a combined asset value of about RM26.6 billion, the BPMB Group is well-positioned to meet the financing and business development needs of Malaysian businesses in the priority sectors.

For more information, please contact:

Anita Ramly
Corporate Communications
Level 14, Menara Bank Pembangunan
1016 Jalan Sultan Ismail
50200 KUALA LUMPUR
Tel: 03 2611 3346
Mobile: 019 332 4809



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