Sim said the loans, which would come with interest rates as low as 3% to 5%, would help businesses upgrade, automate parts of their work and explore greener ways of operating.

He said the RM5 billion package was part of a broader effort to develop SMEs at a time when businesses face rising pressure from global conflict and economic change.

“To realise this mission, I am proud to announce that we are embarking on what I call the Powerup10k campaign throughout this year,” he said at the launch of Heritage Brands of Penang, a book by the Penang Institute on long-running businesses in the state.

Under the campaign, Sim said the government hopes to release up to RM15 billion in low-cost financing this year, up from RM10 billion last year.

He said the campaign aims, among others, to help 10,000 businesses grow, with at least RM100 million set aside to train up to 100,000 entrepreneurs.

Sim said as of February, RM2 billion in financing had already been approved under the programme.

He said Penang was in a strong position to benefit, pointing to the state’s role in the semiconductor industry and its long record of business innovation.

Sim used heritage brand Ghee Hiang as an example of how such businesses could evolve, noting that it had grown from selling tau sar pneah, or Tambun biscuits, to producing sesame oil for export, and was now looking to use the oil’s health properties in soft gel supplements.

He called on Penang businesses to make full use of the support available so that they could keep growing for the next 50 to 100 years.