THE 25,000 unregistered small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout Sarawak have been urged to register themselves in order to receive financial assistance provided by government.
Assistant Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais said there was a total of about 42,000 SMEs throughout Sarawak.
“They cannot benefit from assistance provided by the state and federal governments. But the requirement by the state government is very simple; as long as they have a permit from the council of the area where they conduct business, they can receive the state government’s assistance,” he said.
He said this during a press conference related to questions on SMEs from Aidel Lariwoo (PBB-Sadong Jaya) and Ripin Lamat (PBB-Lambir) in the DUN sitting today.
“Better still, they can register their company with the district office, Inland Revenue Board (IRB), and Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM). For those in the rural areas, they can register at the closest district office,” he said.
Nevertheless, he said these unregistered SMEs could still participate in courses and seminars held.
Naroden said his ministry had held workshops recently in various districts to encourage SMEs to register themselves.
“We have also carried out initiatives such as the Bazaar Rakyat Online Sarawakku Sayang (BROSS) which allowed traders to sell their goods online.
“The response was very positive and in one month, about 7,500 vendors managed to achieve RM35 million in accumulated sales,” he said, urging entrepreneurs, especially youths, to utilise the online platform and social media to assist their businesses.
On the federal government’s Prihatin Special Grant (GKP), he said 22,073 companies in Sarawak had benefitted from such grants amounting to a total of RM66.2 million.
When responding to questions in the DUN session, he also described the various financial and non-financial assistance provided under the four Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) packages to be very useful in easing the burden of entrepreneurs during this challenging period.
Naroden said although there was no direct assistance provided for tenants to cover their rental fees at private premises, the state government encouraged owners of private premises throughout Sarawak to provide similar assistance to their tenants by reducing their rental rates, especially considering that the government had provided discounts for assessment rate and utility bills.
