LUNDU: A total of 28 residents and 55 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) here have received financial assistance worth RM187,200 under the state government’s Minor Rural Project (MRP) grants.
The grants, specifically for education and emergency medical assistance, were presented to the recipients by Santubong MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar in a simple ceremony at Dewan Masyarakat Lundu here today.
Matters concerning education and health should always be given special focus as these two areas are vital elements in ensuring the wellbeing of the people, the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said.
“Health is wealth while education is a powerful tool to help an individual to be a better person, both economically and spiritually. As the representative of my constituents, I will ensure that these two areas will continue to be given special attention,” he said.
He also called on small informal businesses to register their business with the relevant authorities in order to enjoy many types of assistance provided by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) and all of its agencies.
He said it was estimated that there were close to two million unregistered small businesses nationwide. Since they are not registered, Medac is unable to assist these businesses.
“We are very much aware that these ‘Mak Cik Kiah’ businesses are severely affected by the Covid-19 situation. We are concerned for their situation and we want to assist them.
“However, they need to register their businesses so that whatever assistance that we have can be given via the proper channel,” he said.
Going forward in ensuring their business survival in this Covid-19 era Wan Junaidi called on entrepreneurs to make the necessary preparations for the transition of their current business operations from traditional to digital.
“Like it or not, digitalisation is the new norm. Due to the current situation as a result of the pandemic, many people are choosing to buy things online. Those who refuse to change with time, especially in these trying times, will sadly find it difficult to sustain their business.
“However, for those who have successfully migrated their operations online, I am sure they are now reaping the benefits of it.
“In fact, based on our internal survey, there are entrepreneurs who are enjoying up to 500 percent sales growth after they started having an online business presence,” he said.
