KUALA LUMPUR, August 2 – National Entrepreneurship Week (MUN) and National Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Week 2023 have successfully recorded potential sales of RM25 million, bringing the total sales potential to RM76 million thus far during its organization in five locations nationwide. Additionally, a total of 536 entrepreneurs have the potential to receive business financing amounting to RM29 million. YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Deputy Prime Minister, who officiated the program, also presented the appointment letter of the Principal IB Company under the Inclusive Business Value Chain Development Initiative (IB-VCDI) and the SCORE Competitiveness Rating Program (PKS) Enhancement Certificate with a 5-Star rating under SME Corp. Malaysia to PMKS.
The organization of MUN and PMKS by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) through the leading agency SME Corp. Malaysia aims to raise public awareness of products and services offered by MSMEs from various industries and cultivate an entrepreneurial culture among the community. Themed “Support Local, Support PMKS” in support of the products and services offered by MSMEs, MUN and PMKS also serve as a platform for disseminating information on MSMEs development programs offered by various ministries and government agencies.
YAB Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi stated in his opening speech, “The Unity Government, through the vision and framework of MADANI, remains committed to empowering MSME development. The organization of MUN and PMKS like this can be a suitable platform to bring local entrepreneurs’ products or services, including those from rural areas, to engage in business matching activities to expand their business networks to new markets.”
YB Datuk Ewon Benedick, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, stated in his address, “The organization of MUN and PMKS is in line with the government’s aspiration through the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 to foster entrepreneurship among the community. PMKS directly recognizes the role and contribution of MSMEs to national economic development.”
YB Datuk Ewon added that in 2021, 97.4% of registered businesses in Malaysia consisted of MSMEs, comprising a total of over 1.2 million businesses. MSMEs contributed RM518.1 billion or 37.4% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided employment opportunities to over 7.32 million people. The emphasis on the importance of MSMEs as an economic pillar of the country is in line with the core values of Sustainability and Prosperity within the context of economic growth under the MADANI Malaysia framework.
The celebration of the National-level MUN and PMKS this year is also enlivened with 200 booths in the sales carnival and exhibition stalls, including special appearances by celebrity booths such as YBhg. Datin Fouziah Gous, Erma Fatima, Zarina Zainuddin, Lan Solo, and Betty Rahmad.
Various entrepreneurial activities are organized, including business advisory sessions, inclusive business talks, and entrepreneurial quizzes. Additionally, other activities are provided for visitors, such as artist performances, food truck sales, TikTok competitions, makeup competitions, coloring contests, car wrapping demonstrations, cake decoration demonstrations and competitions, tiered bowl demonstrations, busker performances, and a premier forum.
Apart from MEDAC and its agencies, the program also receives support and involvement from relevant parties involved in MSMEs development, including Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), corporate bodies such as Pos Malaysia Berhad as the Official Courier Partner and Unifi Business, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) as the Exclusive Technology Partner, financial institutions including Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF), Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC), and Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank) as Strategic Partners, as well as universities and industry associations.
The National-level MUN and PMKS 2023 at Dataran Merdeka, which started on July 7, is the fifth location following its organization in Penang (Northern Zone), Sarawak, Melaka (Southern Zone), and Pahang (East Coast Zone) last month. Sabah, the last location and the closing of MUN and PMKS for this year, will be held from July 15 to 16 in Kota Kinabalu.
Also present at the opening ceremony were YB Senator Puan Saraswathy Kandasami, Deputy Minister of MEDAC, YBhg. Dato’ Sri Suriani binti Dato’ Ahmad, Secretary-General of MEDAC, and YBhg. Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Bernard Giluk Dompok, Chairman of SME Corp. Malaysia.
