BY NATASHA JEE & NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS
KUCHING: More Bumiputeras, particularly the youth have been urged to venture into the business sector.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said this is crucial for the Bumiputera community to improve their economic status.
“Therefore, parents especially, should play a role in encouraging their children to become entrepreneurs and not relying on working under people all the time,” he said.
He said this when attending the Bank Rakyat 2.0 Micro-Financing Counter launching ceremony for hawkers and small traders at the Santubong Parliament Service Centre, Jalan Kulas on Saturday.
Wan Junaidi, who is also Santubong MP said that based on the census statistics in 2019, nearly 1.3 million or more than 80 percent of informal entrepreneurs (small businesses) throughout the country were Bumiputera, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.
“Majority of them (informal businesses) lost their income especially when the first movement control order (MCO) was imposed when COVID-19 first hit.
“Therefore, to help these informal businesses, the government through its agencies provided various types of assistance to encourage our community to venture into business,” he said.
He added that during his tenure as the Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives in 2020, he had requested the relevant agencies to provide assistance to entrepreneurs, especially Bumiputera affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For instance, Bank Rakyat, provides the micro-financing of which the financing aid is up to RM10,000,” he said.
He added that the programme offered by Bank Raykat was very good in order to revitalise the country’s economy and help small traders to continue their business.
“Even the application conditions have been simplified such as there are no reviews through CTOS (Malaysia’s Credit Reporting Agency) and the Credit Reference Information System Center (CCRIS),” he said.
For the record, the financing aid is between RM10,000 to RM50,000 with zero interest rate and a 12-month moratorium.
On Dec 3 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced RM48.52 million would be allocated to the Hawkers and Small Traders’ Micro Payment programme to allow their informal businesses to survive.
