KUCHING: The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development is planning to establish a Youth Entrepreneur Development Committee to strengthen monitoring and enhance the quality of youth entrepreneurship programmes, particularly the Sarawak Youth Start-up (SYStartup).
Deputy Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development (Entrepreneur Development) Datuk Dr Ripin Lamat said the establishment of the committee would be further discussed with the Minister of Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, with the aim of realising it as soon as possible.
“We are targeting the establishment of a Youth Entrepreneur Development Committee, and this will be discussed further with the Minister so that we can realise the formation of this committee to further strengthen our monitoring and improve the quality of the SYStartup programme.
“That is our objective,” he said after chairing a meeting with strategic partners involving more than 40 agencies and stakeholders related to the implementation of the SYStartup programme here on Monday (Feb 9).
Meanwhile, Dr Ripin said the SYStartup programme would continue with its third cohort this year following the successful implementation of the first and second cohorts previously.
He added that during the meeting, various feedback and suggestions were received from the agencies involved, including the Bumiputera Entrepreneur Development Council (MPUB) throughout Sarawak, to further improve the implementation of the SYStartup programme.
In addition, Dr Ripin said the state government, through a proposal by the Sarawak Entrepreneur Development Committee (SEDC), is considering the development of industry-based start-ups, including heavy industries, to support the manufacturing sector, particularly in areas such as Samalaju and Samajaya.
“This will require further discussions with the Sarawak Manufacturing Association (SMA) and the Sarawak Business Federation (SBF), whose representative also mentioned earlier the internship scheme that will be introduced by SBF,” he said.
According to him, the initiative is in line with the SYStartup development master plan, which covers various sectors including industry, food and beverage, agriculture, tourism and social enterprises, with the involvement of government agencies and the private sector.
He said the integrated efforts are expected to produce more successful young entrepreneurs, thereby contributing to Sarawak’s economic growth and creating more new job opportunities.
Meanwhile, Dr Ripin also said that several other youth entrepreneurship programmes will be implemented this year, including the Sarawak Youth Business Idea Competition (SYBIC), Belia GoBiz and Youth Escape.
