MEDAC ready to listen to proposals

29 October 2023

By Wartawan Nabulu News

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) is ready to listen to proposals from successful entrepreneurs of the National Entrepreneur Group Economic Fund (TEKUN) regarding new initiatives that can be introduced to assist Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick stated that the proposals include initiatives to help young individuals or teenagers who did not take the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) examination or professionals who have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"There are about 30,000 young individuals who did not take SPM or do not possess an SPM certificate. Entrepreneurship can certainly be an option and alternative for them. In this regard, the Ministry and TEKUN National, as an entrepreneurial financing agency, can play a role in assisting them.

"Who else can propose new initiatives if not the entrepreneurial community itself?" he said when met by reporters after officiating the 25th Anniversary Celebration of TEKUN National, held here yesterday.

Ewon mentioned that the challenges faced by MSME entrepreneurs at present are different from those before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world.

"The challenges faced by our entrepreneurs 22 years before the Covid-19 pandemic are not the same as the challenges after the pandemic. This requires TEKUN National and MEDAC to look at new programs, initiatives, and products to assist MSME entrepreneurs.

"Among the initiatives we have launched this year are the Guest Entrepreneur Scheme for Sabah and Sarawak, as well as the Craft Entrepreneur Scheme. There will certainly be more suitable new products that we can launch and create," he said.

Ewon stated that if there are suitable proposals regarding new products and initiatives that can be introduced to MSME entrepreneurs, those suggestions can be taken up and developed into products.

"There may also be professionals who have been working in various sectors. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they had to switch to entrepreneurship, and they may have suggestions on how TEKUN can assist in terms of financing for the business they want to implement.

"This is because even professionals can become informal entrepreneurs or micro-entrepreneurs or small entrepreneurs due to the pandemic, and they certainly expect TEKUN and other entrepreneurial agencies to help provide financing capital to start their businesses," he said.