Ewon visits UDA, meets entrepreneurs

16 December 2022

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KUALA LUMPUR: Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick has visited and attended the UDA Holdings Berhad briefing and then inspected the agency's entrepreneurs at the UDA Complex, here, today.

Present with him were Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Saraswathy Kandasami, Secretary General of the ministry Dato' Sri Suriani Ahmad, Chairman of UDA Holdings Datuk Norliza Abdul Rahim and President and Chief Executive Officer of UDA Holdings Sr. Mohd Salem Kailany.

During the visit, Ewon reiterated his commitment to continue providing support and encouragement to the agencies under the ministry in order to develop small and medium industrial enterprises (SMEs) throughout the country.

"I also welcome UDA Holdings' willingness to cooperate with the Sabah government in developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) next year.

"In this regard, I will help UDA Holding facilitate discussions with relevant agencies under the Sabah government to see the possibility of joint ventures with the state government, especially in the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) area," he said.

He said this after a briefing by UDA Holdings Berhad at the agency's office, here, today. The briefing was delivered by Mohd Salem.

Ewon said he believes the Sabah government is trying to gazette KKIP as a tax-free area in the state.

"I hope that when finalised, it will not only be a new attraction for the industry and small and medium industrial operators in Sabah but can empower the sector and further generate income for UDA Holdings," he said.

Meanwhile, Mohd Salem said, UDA Holdings outlined seven entrepreneurial initiatives from 2023 to 2025.

"In the middle of 2022, the government announced that UDA Holdings will be given a grant of RM100 million. Based on the announced grant, we will try to implement seven entrepreneur initiatives involving Malaysian Enterpreneur Hub, UDA One Stop Retail Centre, Mari Mart, UDA Craft Corner - Kirana, UDA Niaga, UDA Entrepreneur Incentive Program (PIUU), UDA Hospitality & Development Programme as well as Digitisation of UDA Entrepreneurs Programme.

"All this has been sent to the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development (KUSKOP) for consideration of the allocation and requesting it to be maintained as a grant.

"If we get this grant, we can help as many as 4,000 entrepreneurs, which are 1,500 female entrepreneurs, 1,000 youth entrepreneurs, and 1,500 other entrepreneurs in the three-year period from 2023-2025.

"We also expect to create 23,275 job opportunities and generate a sales value of RM908.8 million during that period," he said.