KUALA LUMPUR: The number of bankruptcy cases involving entrepreneurs dropped to 5,695 last year compared to 6,554 in 2021, said Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick.
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He said this was following the amendment to paragraph 5(1)(a) of the Insolvency Act 1967 (Act 360) through the Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2020 (Act A1624), which raised the bankruptcy threshold to RM100,000.
“In a bid to help reduce the bankruptcy rate among entrepreneurs, the government has introduced the Voluntary Arrangement in Act 360 which came into effect on Oct 6, 2017.
“Debtors can apply for an interim order from the court for the suspension of bankruptcy proceedings while negotiating with creditors regarding the proposed debt repayment plan,” he said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (March 28).
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He said this in reply to a question from Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) on the long-term measures taken to reduce the bankruptcy rate among new bumiputra entrepreneurs and improve their sustainability.
Ewon said at the same time the Malaysian Department of Insolvency (MdI) had implemented several programmes such as MdL Prihatin and shared information on social media to create awareness of bankruptcy issues.
He said another initiative was to discharge those with debts under RM50,000 who have met the required conditions from their bankruptcy status beginning March 1 this year. – Bernama