BUKIT MERTAJAM: The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (Kuskop) has begun discussions with stakeholders nationwide to gather proposals and ideas as input for Budget 2027.
Its minister Steven Sim (pic) said the engagement would continue for one to two months in line with the federal budget preparation cycle and involved companies, entrepreneurs and associations representing small traders and cooperatives.
“We are gathering proposals and ideas from stakeholders in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and cooperative sectors so that they can be submitted to the Finance Ministry as input,” he said after launching the ministry’s Madani sales programme here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Sim said the proposals would be guided by the ABCD framework comprising productivity transformation, bureaucratic simplification, access to capital and market accessibility with emphasis on strengthening the competitiveness of the MSME and cooperative sectors.
He also said the framework prioritised larger funding allocations for MSME and cooperatives, lower business operating costs and improvements in government service delivery and industrial productivity.
On the engagement period, Sim said the process would take about one to two months although discussions with stakeholders had already been conducted regularly.
Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will begin drafting Budget 2027 before tabling it in October.
Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the budget would continue to be guided by the principle that economic growth must translate into improving people’s livelihoods rather than being measured solely by strong economic indicators.
On the programme, Sim said it was the sixth to be held in Penang with the objectives of helping residents purchase daily necessities at lower prices.
It also provides a platform for cooperatives and entrepreneurs to market their products and brings government services closer to the people, he added.
About 80 types of goods were offered at discounts of between 20% and 30%.
Some 13 government agencies representing the federal and state governments, as well as local authorities participated.
