KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry plans to double the support for welfare recipients to kickstart their businesses in Budget 2025, said Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
She said that under the existing “Women Empowerment” programme, recipients currently receive RM2,700.
“We want to increase this amount to at least RM5,000, subject to approval from the Ministry of Finance,” she told the media after the launch of the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth: Strivers’ Hub website today.
In 2023, Nancy said through the SME Integrated Plan of Action, a total of RM10.89 billion were allocated to SME programmes, of which 60 women development programmes were carried out.
“Our focus is clear. We want to reach 30% women owned small and medium enterprises, and in order to reach this number we need to continue specialised women financing programmes by centering women in the design process to give women greater access to the capital they need in business,” she said.
She said the Department of Statistics of Malaysia found through its 2016 economic census that women-owned enterprises registered only 20.3% or 187,265 enterprises, out of a total of 920,624 enterprises registered in this country.
“The data shows that women’s involvement in entrepreneurship is still lagging behind, especially when women make up almost half of the country’s population. However, the government has always been committed to providing financing to women,” she said.
Nancy said the importance of upskilling cannot be emphasised enough especially in today’s rapidly changing digital economy.
She called on women entrepreneurs to sign up for modules to equip themselves with skills in artificial intelligence, and learn how to use Canva to make their posters among other things.
Nancy said the digital realm offers an unprecedented opportunity for empowerment, particularly through the flexibility it affords. “Thus I invite all women entrepreneurs to create their presence online to expand their enterprises,“ she added.
The Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth, in partnership with The Asia Foundation, and with support from the ministry through its agency, Women Development Department, launched Strivers’ Hub, a digital platform designed to broaden growth opportunities for Malaysia’s micro, small and medium enterprises, with a focus on those owned and led by women.
The portal offers digital upskilling programmes, mentoring opportunities and essential resources for accessing credit and financial schemes, among others.
