KUALA LUMPUR: The Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (Pemerkasa) will support the country's sustainability agendas, especially towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
The Prime Minister said the government, and the United Nations in Malaysia would set up the MySDG Trust Fund as a platform that allows funding from a variety of sources for SDG-compliant projects.
Muhyiddin, in unveiling Pemerkasa, also announced that the government would launch a Sustainable Sukuk, worth at least US$1 billion (RM4.121 billion).
"The proceeds from the sukuk will fund programmes and projects with sustainable elements, in addition to addressing the socio-economic impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak," he said in his special address today.
The MySDG Trust Fund and the Sukuk Lestari are both listed in Focus Three - Strengthening the Country's Competitiveness under Pemerkasa.
Muhyiddin said the government would increase the Market Development Grant ceiling from RM300,000 to RM500,000 for every company that participated in international exhibition platforms.
He also said to generate new sources of national wealth, a matching grant of RM50 million will be provided to develop the aerospace and medical devices industries.
Meanwhile, the International Trade and Industry Ministry, he added, would continue to explore new export potentials and encourage the use of automisation and mechanisation among industry players.
"As such, among the measures to be implemented include the eBizLink initiative, an online and hybrid digital marketing platform, and the Globepreneur initiative, which aims at enabling more high potential SME companies to access the international market," he added.