KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) will continue to draft action plans in the near future to drive, manage and create an "entrepreneurial nation” through the cooperation of various institutions and agencies, especially under MEDAC.

Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the ministry’s focus would also be on helping the four target groups currently affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, including small and medium enterprises (SME), the retrenched, unemployed students who want to become entrepreneurs, and cooperatives.

"This is an initiative by MEDAC is to show the achievements as early as the first 100 days in strengthening the entrepreneurial and cooperative ecosystem that will indirectly build an inclusive Malaysian Family so that prosperity can be enjoyed by all parties,” he said in a statement in conjunction with Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd’s (Bank Rakyat) virtual annual general meeting today.

Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat chairman Datuk Abdul Rani Lebai Jaafar said the bank is implementing various training programmes as well as providing financing for the targeted group with the aim of creating an entrepreneurial nation, in line with MEDAC aspiration.

"Bank Rakyat will support the government’s efforts to drive economic digitalisation, in line with the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL).

"This is evidenced by Bank Rakyat’s digitalisation efforts such as the introduction of the new core banking system, CoBRA, on Oct 12, 2020, Quick Response to Entrepreneurs (QR2E) digital banking services platform for entrepreneurs on March 17, 2021, online appointment services on July and August 2021 and would soon be launching the iRakyat mobile application,” he said.

He said as an agency under MEDAC, the bank provided various programmes and financial assistance to individuals, micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs such as RAKYATpreneur, UNIpreneur, BR Cares campaign, and Biz-Lady.

He added that the bank also contributed to the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 and the Malaysian Cooperatives Transformation Plan (TransKoM) 2021-2025. — Bernama