Bank Rakyat allocates RM4 million to aid entrepreneurs
KUALA LUMPUR - Bank Rakyat has allocated a total of RM4 million funds through the 2022 RAKYATpreneur and UNIpreneur programmes that would benefit 800 entrepreneurs under it.
Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Kuskop) Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said through the programme, entrepreneurs with potential will be trained to increase sales as well as adding up their current income.
He said success was recorded through the same programme last year with 106 participants or 62.5 per cent of 170 of the RAKYATpreneur participants for the 2021 session who managed to record an increase in sales.
"Meanwhile, 67 per cent of the Bank Rakyat UNIpreneur student entrepreneur recorded an increase of sales after six months of involvement in the pilot programme.
"I am proud with Bank Rakyat’s commitment in playing an important role as a growth engine that moves the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) as well as contributing to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that could transform and empower the Malaysian economy.
"We also expected that each participant who are trained through this programme could raise their total income by at least 30 per cent compared to their current income," he said at the 2022 RAKYATpreneur and Bank Rakyat UNIpreneur launching ceremony here, on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat chairman Datuk Abd Rani Lebai Jaafar said the implementation of RAKYATpreneur and Bank Rakyat UNIpreneur were in line with the Sustainability Action Plan aspirations made through the 2025 Bank Rakyat strategic plan (BR25).
He said both programmes this year had been planned comprehensively and improved from the previous series to ensure it would remain relevant and help raise participants' income by up to 30 per cent.
"Since its introduction, the programme recorded good performances as well as successes for participants.
"Our hope is for entrepreneurs to move from the micro status to small and then small to medium and so forth for them to be able to become public listed companies," he said.
For the record, previously, RAKYATpreneur and UNIpreneur had successfully helped many entrepreneurs and among them were Latifah Jaafar, 59, from Selangor or fondly known as Mak Wan who runs a food paste business and had successfully exported her products internationally.
Besides that, Taco's, a tortilla brand by Mohd Rizuan Abdul Hamid, 34, from Perak also found success through the RAKYATpreneur 2.0 programme and now his business has expanded through the opening of nine kiosks in Perak and Selangor.
