PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) is targetting a total of 1,000 entrepreneurs to participate in its Digital Rural Entrepreneurship Programme this year to digitalise their businesses.
Its secretary-general, Datuk Seri Ramlan Harun said a total of RM1.7 million has been allocated to give direct and practical exposure to entrepreneurs under six modules with the cooperation of the ministry’s strategic partners.
He said the training programme’s module covers digital finance; point-of-sale (POS) or digital warehouse; payment gateway management; optimal internet access; on demand service applications and e-commerce platforms.
He said the programme is aimed at assisting rural entrepreneurs to increase productivity and efficiency, and will prepare them for doing business online in line with the latest technological developments and current economic situation.
“The programme is in the form of awareness and training, and is open to entrepreneurs who are registered with agencies under the ministry,“ he told the media after officiating the Digital Rural Entrepreneurship Programme here today.
Ramlan said the ministry will hold a series of six tours for the programme until the end of this year, namely in Sarawak in May, Sabah (June), Terengganu (July), Johor (August), Penang (September) and Perak (October).
“Entrepreneurs under the KKDW ecosystem amount to more than 60,000 individuals. We hope that by reaching out to them, we can engage most of the entrepreneurs under our ecosystem (in this programme).
“I sincerely hope that we can implement this programme successfully and ensure that entrepreneurs can compete healthily on the e-commerce platform and subsequently generate income and contribute to rebuilding the national economy,“ he said.
According to Ramlan, the three series of programmes that were implemented in Putrajaya, Penang Sabah, last year, successfully drew the participation of a total of 706 entrepreneurs.
“Based on the feedback from the entrepreneurs who had participated in this programme, Alhamdulillah, it seems to be successful because most of them stated that they have been able to improve business operations and to some extent have been able to expand their business and increase productivity and business management efficiency,“ he added. –Bernama