Permanent Secretariat to ensure funds have major impact on entrepreneurial development

PUTRAJAYA: The Permanent Secretariat of the National Entrepreneur Development and PMKS Council (MPUPK) will be established, to ensure that the funds channelled to relevant ministries and agencies have a major impact on the development of entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister, Datuk Ewon Benedick, said that the secretariat will be led by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp), and will have a monthly meeting, which will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

“The meeting discussed five presentation papers, and agreed to establish this secretariat.

“The aim is to ensure that all the funds channelled to each relevant agency will have a big impact and implications for the development of the country’s entrepreneurship,” he said, at a press conference after attending the MPUPK meeting, chaired by Ahmad Zahid, here yesterday.

The five presentation papers discussed at the meeting were the Empowerment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia; One District One Industry New Directions; Strategic Plan for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (PMKS) 2030; Report on SME Integrated Action Plan; and Implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Principles for PMKS.

Ewon said that the meeting also agreed to approve the ESG Quick Guide for PMKS and the Strategic Plan for PMKS 2030.

“It is hoped that with these decisions, we will be able to drive further coordination between ministries and the federal and state governments, so that it will benefit PMKS nationwide,” he said.

Earlier, Ahmad Zahid launched the ESG Quick Guide for PMKS and the Strategic Plan for PMKS 2030.

The ESG Quick Guide for PMKS, issued by SME Corp contains 13 basic indicators that all PMKS can use.

The guide includes eight simple steps for every firm to understand the importance of ESG in business; set objectives; identify ESG indicators related to their business; produce sustainability action plans and use simple templates for ESG reporting.

The 2030 Strategic Plan, developed by the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry and was approved by the Cabinet on Nov 27, is a new roadmap for PMKS in the country’s economic development. — Bernama