TUARAN - The unemployment rate among youths aged between 15 and 40 nationwide has dropped to 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to 5.9 per cent in the same period last year, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the percentage showed that the number of unemployed persons in the first quarter of this year was 585,000, down from 627,000 people in the same period last year.
"This number is expected to continue to decline if we take note of the various initiatives and programmes available for youths," he said when launching the 2022 National Youth Day at Padang Pekan Tuaran here today.
Also present were Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, and Malaysian Youth Council president Mohd Izzat Afifi Abdul Hamid.
Themed 'Ini Masa Kita' (This is Our Time), the 2022 National Youth Day celebration is being held for three days starting yesterday.
To ensure that the youth unemployment rate continues to drop, Ismail Sabri said the government, among others, through strategic cooperation between the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries and the Department of Director General of Lands and Mines, would focus more on urban farming.
He said the effort was a strategy to increase youth involvement in the agro-food sector as well as the Young Agropreneur programme.
The Prime Minister said a total of 8,000 young entrepreneurs had received assistance comprising grants, funding, short-term courses, as well as technical and financial advisory services.
"The agro-food sector can provide a lucrative income if it is well managed using the latest technology. It can guarantee the quality of production that can be exported to help increase national income.
"Youth involvement in the agro-food sector will be strengthened through the organising of the Agro Job Fair programme at MAHA (Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro-tourism Expo) 2022 next month which offers 5,000 job opportunities by participating companies. I call on interested graduates and youths to seize these job opportunities," he said.
Ismail Sabri said 21.4 per cent or seven million of the 32.7 million Malaysians were youths aged between 15 and 30, while those aged between 15 and 40 have reached almost 15 million.
He said it was a significant figure that influenced every national development plan.
Therefore, the aspirations and views of the youths were also crucial for the government to formulate a direction for the country's future, he added,
"What is planned today, will be inherited by the next generation of the Keluarga Malaysia youths because 'youths are the catalyst for the country's future revolution'," he said.
As of June 30, the Prime Minister said a total of 9,766 youth organisations had been registered under the Youth Societies and Youth Development Act 2007 (Amendment 2019), and of the total, 953 were registered in Sabah, including 33 in Tuaran.
He said under the 12th Malaysia Plan, all ministries and agencies were providing various programmes involving youths so that they could continue to play a role in the country's development.
The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) is carrying out the Bank Rakyat UNIpreneur Programme which involves 500 students from every 25 public and private universities starting this month, said Ismail Sabri.
He said the Young Entrepreneurship Engagement Talent programme had produced franchise or pre-franchise entrepreneurs under KUSKOP, and so far, it had received 26 applications for funding amounting to RM4.31 million.
The Malaysia Techlympics Programme by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is also expected to attract the participation of one million young people in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), he said.
At the ceremony, the Prime Minister also announced an allocation of RM1 million to the Malaysian Youth Council for the implementation of various youth development programmes throughout the country.
To ensure that the voices of the youths continue to be heard in the development of the country, he said a senator will be appointed to represent the youths in the Dewan Negara.
"Your voices will be heard as you are the future of the country," he said. - BERNAMA