KUALA LUMPUR: The government is drafting a National Youth Economic Empowerment Plan to strengthen the role of youth in national development.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Plan was aimed at strengthening the capacity and capability of youth to produce skilled workers as well as instilling the spirit of patriotism and responsibility to the country.
"The role of youths is crucial towards the country's development, hence, all government policies are taking youth into account - the future leaders of Keluarga Malaysia.
"As such, the Malaysian Youth Development Academy and several youth and sports complexes will be upgraded, while the first regional youth centre will be built in the country to intensify youth activities," he said while opening the ePemula ceremony at Universiti Multimedia, Cyberjaya, today.
Ismail Sabri said at least RM1.2 billion has been allocated to youth through numerous initiatives to benefit them under Budget 2022.
"Firstly, the PerantiSisawa Keluarga Malaysia initiative that costs RM450 million will see higher education students from B40 families provided with a tablet.
"The tablets of high-quality and from well-known brands, will be distributed starting June this year.
"Under this initiative, about 350,000 university students will benefit, the tablet can help them with online learning and other activities," he said.
Secondly, he said, was the six-months incentive given to employers who hire apprentices aged between 18 and 30-years-old.
"The incentives have been increased to RM900 from the previous RM800, and this will allow the youth to succeed in the recovery agenda through work.
"And thirdly, for youth who are keen on starting their businesses, the government has allocated a RM150 million funding through Bank Simpanan Nasional and Agrobank."
Ismail Sabri said another initiative for the youth is the RM300 million ePemula programme expected to benefit two million youths in the country.
"The main objective of ePemula is to cultivate a cashless culture among youth and to ease the financial burden of the rakyat.
"Eligible youth will receive RM150 to their chosen e-wallets, namely BigPay, GrabPay, ShopeePay or Touch 'n Go, and the process started on April 11," he said.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said e-cash transactions had increased sharply from RM29.6 billion in 2020 to RM50.5 billion in 2021 whilst the country was facing the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our daily lives, and those who lost their jobs had now turned to online businesses to increase their income.
"This has directly increased cashless and contactless transactions, more and more traders and consumers are now confident with cashless transactions via e-wallet.
"The evidence will be e-cash transactions had increased sharply from RM29.6 billion in 2020 to RM50.5 billion in 2021," he said, adding the government would continue to encourage e-transactions among traders and consumers to create a cashless Keluarga Malaysia.
"I urge all traders, particularly the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to practice cashless transactions especially during this transitioning to endemicity phase for simple, fast and safe transactions at stores.
"As for buyers, they will no longer need to bring a wallet as they can pay with their e-wallets," he said.