MEDAC to roll out RM17.1m under second phase of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Recovery Plan

PUTRAJAYA – The second phase of the RM17.1 million Entrepreneur and Cooperative Recovery Plan begins this month until May to ensure the sustainability of business operations, including that of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), cooperatives, social entrepreneurs, start-ups, and informal entrepreneurs, as reported on Bernama.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the second phase was based on the 5E approach, constituting enculture, enable, empower, energise and engage, which is also the direction of the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) for 2021 to develop more than one million MSMEs to become the backbone of the country’s economic growth.

He said under the first phase of the RM171 million Entrepreneur and Cooperative Recovery Plan from May to December last year, 20 programmes were implemented, benefitting 12,138 people, of which 96.52% were bumiputera entrepreneurs.

Wan Junaidi said two main things were given emphasis this year, namely the implementation of the 5E approach and launch of the Malaysian Cooperative Transformation Plan 2021-2025 (TransKoM) soon to ensure that the cooperative movement champions the welfare of cooperative members, besides staying competitive, sustainable and vibrant.

“With a membership of more than six million, the cooperative sector is the best platform to increase the income and socio-economic level of the community,” he said at the MEDAC mandate and launch of the ministry’s 2021 direction here, on January 4.

Wan Junaidi said TransKoM’s plan is also targeting to get a higher education institution to specialise in cooperative education and entrepreneurship.

On the cost of TransKoM implementation, he said the cooperative movement has a revolving capital of RM350 million for the purpose.

Wan Junaidi said 5E was in line with the National Entrepreneurship Policy (DKN2030) to ensure that entrepreneurship remains a major contributor in driving the country’s economic growth, thus supporting the government’s agenda to achieve economic growth of 6.5% to 7.5% in 2021.

On 5E constituents, he said “enculture” denotes an effort to cultivate entrepreneurial thinking and values with creative and innovative creation; “enable” aims to support informal entrepreneurs as registered formal entrepreneurs, while “empower” focuses on empowering MSMEs in restoring businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Energise” means focusing on efforts to inject new energy into the cooperative movement, while “engage” aims to enhance engagement sessions either online or face-to-face so that the MEDAC programme is understood by the community, he said.

On MEDAC’s achievements in 2020, Wan Junaidi said it had offered various financing assistance amounting to RM1.48 billion until December 2020 to 53,449 entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic.

The financing assistance was disbursed through agencies such as SME Bank, Bank Rakyat, the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund, Perbadanan Nasional Bhd, and the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia.

“Overall, in terms of allocation implementation, MEDAC recorded a tremendous achievement in channelling 99.3% of allocation provided under Budget 2020,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wan Junaidi said a Cabinet paper will be tabled on the proposal that every assistance channeled by the government is in line with the needs of entrepreneurs.

“For example, some MSMEs have not registered their businesses as they are worried that they are not eligible to receive the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) (the cost of living aid). If they are not registered, it is difficult for the government to help them as they are not covered by insurance plans.

“But their concern has a basis, for example, if a company director registers his or her business, then he or she will not be eligible for the BSH, so MEDAC will bring this issue to the government so that people will not be punished for registering, especially if they are still in the B40 (bottom 40% income) group,” he said.