Federal ministry urged to raise funding for Sarawak franchise entrepreneurs

Federal Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (Kuskop), through Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (Pernas), has been urged to allocate bigger provisions for the development of franchise entrepreneurs in Sarawak.

Deputy Minister of Youth, Sport and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak Datuk Dr Ripin Lamat says although the financing target for franchise programmes nationwide this year is RM50 million involving Sarawak, Pulau Pinang, Pahang and Sabah, the target for Sarawak is only set at RM4 million.

“We hope for it to be increased (for Sarawak) so that many franchisor entrepreneurs, franchisees, and those under the ‘Business in Transformation’ (BIT) programme can develop their businesses.

“It definitely requires more funding, and we request that Kuskop and Pernas allocate additional funds towards this, at least RM12 million,” he told a press conference after inaugurating the Bizfrancais Sarawak 2024 programme at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.

Additionally, Ripin said the franchise industry was eyeing to produce 156 entrepreneurs nationwide by 2024, with 30 of them from Sarawak.

“So far, the reception towards the franchise industry in Sarawak has been positive, and this industry is easier to operate with the assistance of Pernas.

“The franchise system is one of the easiest business systems to venture into because it comes with management, training, and so on,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Pernas head of franchise development division Mazlan Ibrahim said 80 per cent of franchise entrepreneurs had successfully sustained their businesses since the corporation began assisting them in 2004.

“However, the remaining 20 per cent of entrepreneurs face various issues such as their placement conditions, besides depending on the resilience within the industry,” he said.