The Fund for Automation and Green Technology is established with the following objectives:

1. To encourage the rubber product industry to adopt automation and green technology to enhance the industry’s competitiveness
2. To alleviate labour shortage problem in the rubber product industry
3. To promote the adoption of green technology towards achieving sustainability in the rubber product industry

The fund shall cover the following projects:

1. Automation
2. Green technology which comprises:
3. Technology that utilises renewable energy sources i.e. solar and biomass
4. Wastewater recycling and/or rainwater harvesting

The company shall meet the following criteria:

1. Incorporated under the Companies Act 1965 or 2016
2. Possess a valid manufacturing license from MITI or business license from the local authority or any other equivalent license issued by a regulatory body
3. For SME companies, possess the latest Certificate of SME status issued by SME Corporation Malaysia.
4. For downstream sector, producing and exporting predominantly rubber products with minimum RM1000 average cess contribution in the last three (3) consecutive years.
5. For midstream sector, producing and selling processed rubber locally and/or internationally in the last three (3) consecutive years.
6. Ongoing project(s) where the equipment has been installed/in-operation or purchase order has been issued are not eligible to apply
7. Not receiving other incentives, grants, soft loans, or any other form of benefits from government and its related agencies for the same project. (i.e. MIDA -Reinvestment Allowance, Investment Tax Allowance, Automation Capital Allowance, GreenTech Malaysia – Green Technology Financing Scheme, etc.)
8. Possess a healthy financial status and free from any legal or insolvency cases
9. Encouraged to use local technology/service provider in their respective project implementation

Automation

Automation projects shall be for use in at least one of the areas as follows:

1. Material handling
2. Processing
3. Packaging
4. Inspection and testing

Other activities which are part of the manufacturing process. Projects should incorporate elements of Industry 4.0 (i.e. Real time data collection and statistical analysis and reporting).

The Fund does not cover:

Purchase of automation equipment or system for investment in a new plant or new products.

• Duplication of existing equipment.
•  

1. MRC encourages rubber processors and rubber products manufacturers to participate in the Industry4WRD Readiness Assessment (RA) Programme offered by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI).
2. The Industry4WRD Readiness Assessment Scheme is an additional incentive offered by MRC for eligible companies to claim full reimbursement of Industry4WRD RA fees up to RM20,000 per company.
3. Upon completion of the assessment and full payment to the Assessor Bodies registered under Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), the companies are required to submit project applications under the “Automation & Digitalization” categories within six (6) months. The reimbursement claim will not be affected by the Select Committee’s decision on the submitted project applications.
4. The companies that benefitted from this scheme will be ineligible for tax reduction under the Deduction for Expenditure on Industry4WRD Readiness Rules 2020.

Please be in informed that the eligibility criteria for the downstream sector under the MRC Fund for Automation & Green Technology has been revised with effect from 1st January 2020. The decision was made in light of sustainability of the Fund. With this revision, the maximum claimable grant amount will be based on average cess contribution in the last 3 years as shown below. Besides that, the applicant company should also be producing and exporting predominantly cessable rubber products.