MEDC 2024 Budget approved by Parliament

16 November 2023

By Nabalu News Journalist

KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives) approved the 2024 Budget for the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDC) yesterday.

A total of RM778.8 million has been allocated for MEDC under the 2024 Budget, with RM547 million allocated for development expenditure and RM231.8 million for operational expenditure.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, Datuk Ewon Benedick, expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of Finance, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, for this allocation, which represents an increase of RM46.4 million compared to the 2023 budget, particularly the additional RM26.8 million for development expenditure.

He stated that to ensure smooth development and coordination of entrepreneurial initiatives without overlapping, a comprehensive governance structure has been established at the federal and state levels.

These include the National Entrepreneur Development Council (MPUPK), the National Entrepreneurship Development Council (MPKN), the Highest Level Task Force for Entrepreneur Development (HLTF), the National Entrepreneurship Development Technical Committee (JTPKN), and the District-level Council for Entrepreneur Development, Cooperatives, Hawkers, and Small Traders (MPUKPPD).

"In addition, MEDC, through SME Corp, monitors entrepreneurship development programs implemented by 68 Ministries/Agencies and seven state governments through the SME Integrated Action Plan (SMEIPA) platform."

Through this platform, SME Corp. carries out assessments of entrepreneurship development programs and presents them in the meetings of MPUPK and MPKN," he said in his concluding speech for the ministry in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Regarding women-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) registered in the country, Ewon said that a total of 186,930 women-owned MSMEs were registered based on the 2016 Economic Census.

"The number of women-owned MSMEs will be updated based on the findings from the 2023 Economic Census by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), which will be published in August 2024," he said.

Ewon stated that MEDC has provided special programs and financing schemes for women entrepreneurs.

"Among the programmes implemented this year are the financing scheme under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) for 323,542 women entrepreneurs with an allocation of RM1.74 billion, the TEKUN-Women Financing Scheme for 3,801 women entrepreneurs with an allocation of RM20 million.

"The BRPlus - i BizLady programme by Bank Rakyat, which has provided financing of RM8.72 million to 86 women entrepreneurs, and the Successful Women Entrepreneurship Engagement Talent (SWEET) programme by PERNAS involving 19 women entrepreneurs with an allocation of RM4.8 million," he said.

Regarding the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN), Ewon said that INSKEN has planned to implement various training programms, guidance, and business consultations for 2024.

"With the allocation, various programmes will be implemented nationwide through public participation and collaboration with other state and federal government agencies.

"For the year 2024, INSKEN has planned to implement 233 programmes that are expected to benefit over 8,000 entrepreneurs nationwide," he said.

Regarding TEKUN Nasional, he said that with an easy application process and 171 TEKUN branches throughout the country, TEKUN Nasional has become the choice of micro-entrepreneurs to obtain financing assistance.

"The financing target for 2024 is RM600 million, and the funds will be sourced from repayment collections.

"To prevent entrepreneurs from resorting to loan sharks, TEKUN has simplified the application process by reducing the required documentation to just 4 documents, namely, a copy of the Identification Card, premises photos, a copy of the bank statement, and a copy of the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) certificate (for micro-entrepreneurs).

"The processing period is seven working days, and the disbursement of financing is done within three working days, compared to the previous 21 working days," he said.

He mentioned that as of March 2023, financing has been provided to 255 participants of Young Agropreneurs with a financing value of RM8.9 million.

"For the year 2023, TEKUN has disbursed RM23.47 million (1,989 entrepreneurs) in the agricultural sector," he said.