KOTA KINABALU: The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry disbursed RM813.4mil to 53,395 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as cooperatives in Sabah throughout last year, Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick says.
He said the allocations were provided to agencies under the ministry, such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia, Tekun Nasional, Bank Rakyat, SME Bank, SME Corp, Perbadanan Nasional Berhad and Malaysian Cooperative Societies Commission.
He said the ministry’s National Entrepreneurship Institute also carried out 41 training and mentoring programmes for 1,585 entrepreneurs in Sabah.
"The ministry has also introduced Ehsan@KUSKOP, a special programme to help eradicate poverty in Sabah, and Yayasan Bank Rakyat has allocated RM3mil for this purpose.
"The programme will start this year in three districts identified as having high poverty rates - Kudat, Kota Marudu and Kota Belud,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 11).
The Penampang MP also said that the ministry had introduced the domestic Look East Policy, which focuses on Sabah and Sarawak, particularly in terms of entrepreneur development.
He said the ministry’s new initiatives for MSME entrepreneurs in Sabah include the Tamu Desa project, the Tamu Entrepreneur Financing Scheme (SPUT) and grants for Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputera entrepreneurs under the Bumiputera Entrepreneur Programme (BEEP) Plus.
Ewon said last year, 54 new Tamu Desa sites were built and upgraded with an allocation of RM10,286,998.36.
"BEEP Plus, with an allocation of RM8.39mil, benefitted 113 companies. Meanwhile, SPUT provided RM3.56mil in financing to 893 companies.
"The ministry has strengthened its cooperation with Sabah through the establishment of Sabah Entrepreneurship Development Coordination Committee and District Entrepreneur, Cooperative, Hawker and Petty Trader Development Council,” he added. - Bernama
