Mitra’s administrative status to be announced by PM, says Ramanan

KUALA LUMPUR: The administrative status of the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (Mitra), whether it remains under the Prime Minister’s Department (JPM) or otherwise, will be announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim soon, says Datuk R. Ramanan.

The Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister R. Ramanan said he would carry out his duties as Mitra special committee chairman as usual until there is an announcement from the Prime Minister.

He expressed confidence in the Prime Minister to finalise the matter.

“The Prime Minister will announce it soon, let’s wait for his announcement,” he told reporters after a working visit to the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun) here Thursday (Dec 21).

He was responding to questions on talk that the administration of Mitra would return under the National Unity Ministry.

“We have to trust the Prime Minister’s credibility; he knows what he is doing, just like a chess game, only the chess player can see what will happen, (in his mind) he is three or four steps ahead, so we have to trust him.

“When it comes to the Indian, Malay and Chinese community, nothing is political; the Prime Minister will do his best to serve everybody equally,” he said.

In another development, Ramanan said that people should take advantage of the opportunities offered by Tekun to become more competitive entrepreneurs.

“Tekun has achieved a lot of success, but it has not reached the masses enough. Earlier, I was informed that there are two entrepreneurs with disabilities, one managing a car workshop and the other a hair salon, and they can become millionaires through the loans provided by Tekun.

“This year alone, Tekun has provided business assistance to Indian entrepreneurs totaling RM49mil, with the total business assistance provided reaching RM1bil by the end of this year. This is a good achievement, with financing increasing from year to year,” he said.

He said Tekun will also open two more branches in Sabah next year, bringing the total number of Tekun branches nationwide to 173.

Meanwhile, Tekun chairman Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid said the upcoming plan is to increase financing and provide more financing opportunities for participants.

“We have targeted next year’s allocation for financing to be around RM1.15bil,” he said. – BK