The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) will launch the Malaysian Cooperative Transformation Plan 2021-2025 (TransKoM), aimed to ensure entrepreneurship remains a major contributor in driving the country’s economic growth.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (picture) said TransKom has received the Cabinet’s approval and it will be implemented in the near future.
“We will launch it on an appropriate date, preferably when Covid-19 cases stop to spike. We will implement it in the near future,” he told reporters during the launch of Medac’s direction for 2021 in Putrajaya yesterday.
TransKoM outlines the goals and comprehensive strategic measures to ensure that the cooperative movement can provide greater benefits to the wellbeing of members and the community, as well as establish competitiveness and sustainability.
In addition, it also aims to transform the Malaysian Cooperative Institute into a higher education institution that specialises in cooperative education and entrepreneurship.
Wan Junaidi revealed that the five main approaches to the direction for 2021 are based on the concept of 5E, namely enculture, enable, empower, energise and engage.
He also said as part of the new direction, Medac will develop an informal entrepreneur development plan, so that the goal of transforming informal entrepreneurs can be implemented comprehensively.
Among the strategies that will be emphasised in this plan include awareness, advisory services, business registration facilitation, capacity building and digitisation.
Wan Junaidi reiterated that Medac will continue to focus on assisting micro and informal traders, as well as entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
“Although there are various stimulus packages that have been channelled by the government, entrepreneurs — especially those involved in the micro and informal sector — are still unable to fully restore their businesses,” he said.
The minister added that this is based on the findings of a study conducted by Medac, which also found that there is a mismatch between the assistance provided by the government and the actual needs of entrepreneurs.
It said the cost of adapting to digitalisation by micro-entrepreneurs does not require an excessive amount of financing compared to what is being offered to them.
The study also disclosed that the assistance provided by the government through commercial banks is difficult to be utilised by most entrepreneurs, especially microentrepreneurs.
For this year, Malaysia’s economy is projected to gradually grow at a rate of 6.5% to 7.5%.
Wan Junaidi said various plans were developed such as the Entrepreneur and Cooperative Recovery Plan for the country’s economy to recover and remain positive.
To date, the plan’s first phase from May to December 2020 saw a total of 20 programmes have been implemented with an allocation of RM171 million for 12,138 beneficiaries, while the second phase will start in January until May 2021 with an allocation of RM17.1 million.
As of December 2020, Medac had offered financial assistance to 53,449 entrepreneurs amounting to RM1.48 billion through agencies such as SME Bank Bhd, Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd, Tekun Nasional and the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2021/01/05/medac-to-launch-new-strategic-plan-for-entrepreneurs-to-boost-economy/