KUCHING, Dec 2: As of September 2020, some 12,188 entrepreneurs have benefited from 116 online entrepreneurship programmes, revealed Ministry of Trade and Industry, Industry Terminal and Entrepreneur Development (Mintred).
Besides that, local entrepreneurs are encouraged to seek financial assistance from the state government.
“Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the new norm for doing business has changed. Based on the current situation, the Sarawak government through Mintred has begun (focusing on encouraging) online business as a new strategy to interact with customers,” disclosed the state government in a written reply to a question raised by entrepreneur Penelope Ling during the “Sunday with CM: Dialogue Session with Young Entrepreneurs in Sarawak” programme held on Sept 28 this year.
Due to the constraints of time which caused many questions to be left unanswered, DayakDaily forwarded these questions after the dialogue ended to the relevant authorities which came back with the answers recently.
The statement added that to support the entrepreneurs in conducting online businesses, the state government has introduced various programmes such as the Bazaar Rakyat Online Sarawakku Sarawak (BROSS), YouTube with Cardock, Buat Duit online, Shopee Dropshipping workshop and TikTok webminar for beginners.
As for the GERAK programme for school leavers and diploma holders and youth aged between 18-45, the state government has approved 123 applications with a total cost of RM2.01 million.
Meanwhile, for technical and vocational entrepreneurs (USTEV), RM2.7 million has been approved and will benefit 182 participants.
As for small and medium enterprises (SPIKS), RM5.4 million has been approved to support 40 entrepreneurs who are involved in manufacturing, services and information technology.
The state government has also allocated RM28.58 million for 860 entrepreneurs under a micro credit scheme. — DayakDaily
