New scheme for Sabah, Sarawak entrepreneurs to be introduced in September

KOTA KINABALU: The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry will introduce a new scheme specifically for Sabah and Sarawak entrepreneurs, says its Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick.

He said the Sabah and Sarawak Indigenous Entrepreneurs Grant Scheme is aimed at empowering entrepreneurs in the two Borneo states.

He said the scheme was also targeted to support entrepreneurs who are still facing various challenges.

“This is in line with Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which states that there should be a special focus on the Malay and native communities in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said on Saturday (Aug 26).

“I take that as a reason for me to introduce a scheme to help entrepreneurs in Sabah and Sarawak.

“We will start by creating a quota from the RM100mil additional allocation that has been approved and channelled to SME Corporation Malaysia,” he added.

Benedick was speaking after launching the Economic Empowerment Convention at Wisma SIB Sabah here.

The Minister said the new scheme is expected to be launched by the Sarawak Premier at the end of next month in Kuching.

He hoped the scheme would help raise the potential and opportunities of entrepreneurs from the indigenous communities to get funding.

He said the challenges faced by Sabah and Sarawak entrepreneurs were, among others, logistics, Internet access and transport costs.

On the 35 proposed new initiatives of the ministry for next year’s Budget, Benedick said they will cover the needs of all entrepreneurs in the country including micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.

The initiatives would also take into account the post Covid-19 challenges, he added.

“This will be the first (full) Budget of the unity government and there must be new initiatives.

“Of all the proposed new initiatives, I say all of them are the priorities of the ministry and the people that need to be delivered by the government.

“But we also have to be realistic with the country’s financial challenges as we need to take into account the amount of debt the government needs to settle first.

“Because of that, maybe not all can be included,” Benedick said.

He said, however, his priority was to give additional focus on Sabah and Sarawak besides continuing the existing initiatives of the ministry throughout the country.