KUALA LUMPUR: The National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) has channelled business financing worth RM140mil since the beginning of this year until April 30, 2019.

Under the 2019 Budget, the government allocated RM100mil to Tekun Nasional to help entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur Development Minister (MED) Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof said RM40mil in additional funding was channelled to entrepreneurs.

"We provide an additional RM40mil because we have already collected RM160mil until April 30, this year,” he told a press conference after officiating the "Mood Republik - KL Raya Fest 2019" on Friday.

On the additional funding, Mohd Redzuan said only part of the repayment will be channelled to entrepreneurs this time.

The repayment rate for Tekun’s loans was reportedly increased by 20 per cent after the introduction of rescheduling mechanism since August last year.

Commenting on efforts to drive the development of Tekun entrepreneurs, the ministry according to him intends to expand Tekun's outlet network to reduce the role of intermediaries between consumers and producers.

"We have opened the first outlet at the Terminal Bandar Selatan and we are planning to open in East Coast, Selangor and Johor and we will monitor the reception,” he said.

Meanwhile, he also said that the MED would consider appointing the organiser of Mood Republik as the strategic partners in developing entrepreneurs.

"We will look at the proposal holistically to help start-ups,” he said.

The Mood Republik which has been organised since 2014, is targeting RM100mil in sales this time around.

The event has successfully collected RM500 million since its introduction.

"For this year, the Mood Republik targets three million visitors within 72 hours,” he said.