KUCHING: Tekun Nasional is targeting to help 25,000 micro entrepreneurs through its RM350 million allocation this year, said its chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Suparadi Md Noor.
“Tekun will receive RM100 million from the federal government as announced in the Budget 2019 while the other RM250 million is from internal funds.
“Of this amount, RM330 million is for Bumiputera entrepreneurs and the other RM20 million is for Indian entrepreneurs,” he revealed during a session with the state’s Tekun Nasional staff at a local hotel here yesterday.
According to Mohamad, Tekun will focus more on financing and repayment activities this year while entrepreneurial training sessions conducted by Institut Keusahawanan Tekun Nasional (IKTN) will run as usual.
“For the past 21 years, Tekun has provided business financing worth RM5.33 billion to 420,925 entrepreneurs throughout Malaysia.
“Last year, we channelled financing amounting to RM354.14 million to 20,134 entrepreneurs through financing schemes such as Tekun, Tekun Niaga, Kontrak-I, SPUMI and other schemes under special programmes,” he explained.
Suparadi later told a press conference that Tekun would cooperate with the state government through the Entrepreneur Development Ministry with agriculture as the main scope.
The federal government will work with the state government in providing land and assisting Sarawak to become a hub of agriculture in Malaysia.
He also pointed out that nearly 68 percent of the borrowers in Sarawak were women and they repaid loans according to the time set out in the agreements.
“The potential of getting back loans is high for women entrepreneurs in Sarawak,” he stressed.
This is Suparadi’s first visit to Sarawak after being appointed as chairman on Oct 26, 2018.
