KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 3,285 Indian women entrepreneurs have received funding amounting to RM30.34 million through the Prosperity, Empowerment and A New Normal (PENN) programme under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) as of Dec 13.
This was among the seven initiatives implemented this year by the Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperatives Ministry, spearheaded by its Deputy Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan, to enhance the standard of living and economy of the Indian community in the country.
In an e-poster shared on the ministry's social media, the initiatives include the Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme (SPUMI) and SPUMI Goes Big, implemented under the Business Group Economic Fund (Tekun) involving an allocation of RM60 million.
As of Dec 19, 2,355 Indian entrepreneurs have benefited from these initiatives.
To further support the Indian business community, Bank Rakyat introduced the Bank Rakyat Indian Entrepreneur Financing-i (BRIEF-i) programme, providing up to RM50,000 in financing with 451 Indian entrepreneurs having benefitted from it as of Dec 19 involving funding of RM40.39 million.
Last Sept 27, the ministry, through SME Corp, launched the Business Accelerator Programme for small-sized Indian-owned companies (I-BAP) involving an allocation of RM6 million and up to Nov 25, funding of RM1.5 million has been approved to 20 companies.
According to the ministry, SME Corp is evaluating another 61 companies for the programme.
On Sept 28, the ministry collaborated with agencies such as Tekun, AIM, SME Corp and INSKEN in implementing the Empowering Indian Entrepreneur (EIP 2024) programme to empower Indian community entrepreneurs by improving their skills through entrepreneurship courses, artificial intelligence (AI), finance and social media.
Ramanan also implemented the Madani Vanakam programme, a casual chat programme held with the residents of Kuala Kubu Baru, Sungai Bakap and Indian entrepreneurs, in addition to providing food baskets to the B40 families of the Indian community from April to last September.
The ministry, through the Malaysian Cooperative Commission (SKM), also held an Indian Community Cooperative Conference (PKKI) on Oct 13, which involved the participation of 200 cooperatives, to increase the knowledge of Indian community cooperators regarding the Malaysian Cooperative Policy 2023.
The Madani government's concern for the Indian community can also be seen when Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is National TVET Council chairman, sent 200 Indian students to attend TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) courses in China.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim insisted that all assistance for the poor will be distributed regardless of race and that all narratives related to racial profiling in the issue of aid and efforts to eradicate hardcore poverty in the country should be stopped immediately.
Anwar, who is also the finance minister, reportedly said this in response to claims by some parties that the additional allocation of RM130 million for the Indian community was insufficient.
– Bernama