GEORGE TOWN, March 5 — The Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM MyKasih Kapital programme under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) has helped 14,770 women increase their income since 2019.

Its Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the programme is to help women affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to start businesses with small capital in the field of e-commerce and small businesses that are not included under the schemes provided by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Kuskop), National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun) and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM).

Nancy, who is also the National Welfare Foundation (YKN) chairman, said that from January till today, a total of 2,980 participants from all over the country had attended the Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM MyKasih Kapital programme course.

"Based on our monitoring after six months, of the 14,770 participants, 90 per cent managed to increase their income from RM500 to RM1,000 per month while the other 10 per cent have increased their income up to RM3,000 a month,” she said in her speech at the Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM MyKasih Kapital Entrepreneurship programme, here, today.

She said the programme aimed to empower the economy of the target group, especially women, by optimising the potential of individuals based on their skills so that they do not continue to depend entirely on government assistance.

"The MyKasih Kapital participants will be evaluated, monitored and follow courses by government departments or agencies like INSKEN (National Institute of Entrepreneurship) and Socso (Social Security Organisation) as well as through the sharing of experiences and tips by successful entrepreneurs to prepare the participants to enter the business field,” she said.

As such, Nancy hoped that all women will capitalise on the Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM initiative as the programme is the best platform to uplift the role of women in the world of entrepreneurship.

She said the Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM programme would help women to get out of the shackles of hardship to become successful entrepreneurs and go on to help other women.

"As such, I urged everyone here today to take this opportunity to increase your family’s income so that you can enjoy a better standard of living in the future,” she said.

Earlier, in Penang, a total of 500 Wanita Bangkit@KPWKM MyKasih Kapital YKN programme participants underwent courses and guidance to venture into business. — Bernama