PETALING JAYA: The government will launch a new franchise-related initiative aimed at supporting the development of the Indian community, said Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan.
He said the programme, the first of its kind, was crafted by his ministry under Perbadanan Nasional Bhd (Pernas) and is scheduled to be launched later this month.
He expressed hope that the Indian community would seize the opportunity to venture into the franchise sector, as both franchisor and franchisee, with funding support provided by his ministry.
“Ministry secretary-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud, together with many dedicated ministry staff, have worked hard to develop this programme. It is not easy to create such an initiative, but we believe it will be the best platform for the Indian community.
“This is an opportunity for them to participate in the franchise sector, something that has not been accessible to them before. I hope they will take this chance to grow their businesses and bring benefits to the community,” he told reporters after officiating the Eighth Asean Inclusive Business Forum here today.
Ramanan, who has also been entrusted with overseeing and monitoring projects involving temples and Tamil schools, said his team is compiling a list of temples to expedite project completion.
“To be honest, I think everything is progressing very well. Regarding the allocation for Tamil schools to set up ICT (Information and Communication Technology) laboratories and the construction of six new schools, we are working closely with the Education Ministry.
“As for the other programmes conducted under the ministry, they have all recorded very high impact. The allocations have been fully utilised, with the number of recipients reaching the maximum,” he said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in Parliament last month, announced RM5 million to upgrade ICT laboratory equipment in Tamil vernacular schools and RM20 million to empower Hindu temples as community centres under the Dharma Madani Programme.
On the Asean Inclusive Business(IB) Forum, Ramanan highlighted that one of its milestones was the launch of the Capacity Building and Talent Development Framework for Inclusive Business in Asean, which served as a roadmap to help member states strengthen business capacity to adopt IB models and develop talent to promote IB effectively.
He said IB and Social Enterprise (SE) are the drivers of Asean’s resilient economy, generating not only profits but also hope, dignity and opportunities, the agenda which Malaysia supports through policies via the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP).
“A key target under the 13MP by 2030 is the development of Malaysia’s IB Action Plan, which will provide targeted incentives for companies to adopt inclusive business models.
“The plan also aims to recognise 100 companies embracing the IB model and involve 5,000 beneficiaries, primarily from the B40 group, in IB companies,” he said. – BERNAMA
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