GEORGE TOWN: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the country’s leading digital economy agency under the supervision of the Digital Ministry (KD), aims to train and produce one million digital entrepreneurs through the eUshawan Programme throughout this year.
MDEC chairman Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh said since the programme began in 2015, a total of 563,543 entrepreneurs across the country had been trained, generating cumulative sales of over RM1.24 billion.
He said the main objective of the programme was to provide external and online learning training to individuals, students, and micro-entrepreneurs in digital entrepreneurship to generate income, promote products, and increase sales.
“In Penang alone, a total of 18,720 entrepreneurs have seized the opportunity and generated cumulative sales exceeding RM73 million.
“This year, we aim to train one million entrepreneurs in the field of digital economy through the eUsahawan Programme nationwide, providing entrepreneurs with more income-generating opportunities,“ he told reporters after the Jelajah Saya Digital (JSD) programme at the Bukit Jambul Complex, Bayan Lepas, near here today.
The programme was officiated by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, with Deputy Digital Minister Datuk Wilson Ugak Anak Kumbong also present.
Commenting further, Syed Ibrahim said the JSD programme was carried out to help improve digital skills among people across the country.
He said MDEC had already travelled to all corners of the country, including Penang, to raise awareness, empower, and further nurture the digital economy ecosystem among Malaysians.
“The programme has reached 55 locations and successfully trained 20,894 participants from across the country since its introduction in 2021. For this year, MDEC targets 40,000 participants to join the JSD programme at 31 locations,“ he said.
He added that to achieve the goal of empowering people to go digital, MDEC offered many programmes through JSD, such as eUsahawan, eRezeki, Global Online Workforce (GLOW), and 100 Go Digital.
In the current JSD series, Syed Ibrahim said MDEC also provided insights into the use of the ChatGPT self-learning platform.
He said that the JSD was also brought to Penang to create awareness among the people about the importance of digital technology and smart lifestyle solutions, providing equal opportunities to both urban and rural residents.
“This is also in line with the new initiative introduced by the government – AI untuk Rakyat (AI for the People) – to provide a basic understanding of AI (Artificial Intelligence) so that we can better understand the technology that can bring benefit to our daily lives,“ he said.
He said that MDEC would continue to implement such programmes in line with the vision of the Malaysia MADANI framework, of which inclusivity and equality are among the main cores.
JSD is an initiative that focuses on benefiting target groups such as the B40, unemployed graduates, seniors, persons with disabilities, school and university students, as well as those from the micro, small, and medium enterprises sector. – Bernama
