MELAKA: The Communications Ministry is studying a proposal by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to further expand the benefits of community development programmes nationwide, particularly in rural areas, says Datuk Fahmi Fadzil.
The Communication Minister said the proposal involved activating more than 190 Village Community Centres (PKD) nationwide together with the National Information Dissemination Centres (Nadi).
He said the ministry was currently looking into the alignment and coordination of activities between PKD and NADI following a request raised by the rural ministry during a recent meeting.
"We are ready to activate NADI at 190 PKDs nationwide following a request by KKDW during a recent meeting and we are now looking into how the alignment and coordination of activities can be carried out.
“This will create more opportunities for the rakyat in more locations to benefit from NADI programmes,” he said at a press conference after officiating the Telok Mas Nadi centre and presenting letters of appointment to the chairman of the Melaka NADI Advisory Panel at Taman Seri Telok Mas here on Thursday (May 8).
Fahmi said the collaboration was expected to create wider opportunities for communities to benefit from digital development, education and entrepreneurship initiatives offered through Nadi.
Meanwhile, he said among the programmes currently having the biggest impact on the community were digital entrepreneurship initiatives conducted through collaborations with TikTok Shop and Shopee.
He said the collaborations not only provided local entrepreneurs with exposure to digital marketing, but also helped increase their sales and income.
“I witness that these programmes have greatly helped the community and several entrepreneurs here who were invited to participate in programmes together with Shopee managed to increase their income.
“In fact, there is a Nadi entrepreneur in Morib whose income is far higher than that of a minister,” he said.
Fahmi added that the success of rural entrepreneurs proved that one did not need to be based in urban areas to succeed in business as digital economic opportunities were now widely accessible to all levels of society.
He said efforts to strengthen digital entrepreneurship would continue to be among the government’s main focus areas in improving the socio-economic standing of local communities through the Nadi platform.
