Ramanan (in batik print) with Hemala and Gobalakrishnan (fifth and sixth from right) at the Ponggal event.
Indian traders are urged to unite and take a stand to raise issues affecting their community.
This was the advice by Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan to Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) at its Ponggal celebration in Kuala Lumpur.
The event at MAICCI House saw some women entrepreneurs and their families celebrating Ponggal.
MAICCI was established to promote economic enhancement and development for the Indian community.
“Since I have been entrusted with the mandate and responsibility to assist the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, I am determined to play a crucial role in achieving Madani economy goals, which is empowering the people to elevate Malaysia as a leading economy in Asia.
“My ministry is responsible for development of entrepreneurship and cooperatives in Malaysia.
“The Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme (Spumi) under Tekun Nasional encourages the participation of the Indian community in innovative business ventures.
“In addition to that, other agencies within the ministry such as Institut Keusahawanan Negara (Insken) and Institut Koperasi Malaysia (Ikma) also offer capacity development initiatives for entrepreneurs and cooperatives through training and mentoring programmes,” said Ramanan.
He said besides financial assistance provided by SME Corp and SME Bank, there were training and development programmes for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to stimulate comprehensive business growth.
Bank Rakyat and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia also offer various financing programmes to encourage entrepreneurs to develop their businesses
Ramanan said other programmes included Uda Holdings’ Entrepreneurs Incentive Programme and Uda Bizznita for women entrepreneurs with funding for the short and long-term.
He said of RM5mil allocated last year under Uda Holdings’ programme, about RM1.09mil was awarded to 373 women entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, Skim Pembiayaan Teman Tekun: TekunNita by Tekun Nasional helps fund female entrepreneurs in groups to carry out business.
Some RM220mil is available for implementation of programmes including TekunNita, he added.
Ramanan said some RM20mil of funding was approved and had benefitted 3,801 entrepreneurs including female entrepreneurs.
MAICCI Women’s Wing president Hemala Sivam urged the government to provide more funding for Indian women entrepreneurs to expand their businesses.
Meanwhile, MAICCI National President Datuk Seri N. Gobalakrishnan highlighted the plight of Indian businessmen facing labour shortages in three major industries – textiles, barbers and jewellery.
“Application for foreign workers was done by our stakeholders.
“These applications were not rejected but we did not get any response.
“Applications for over 8,000 foreign workers by 1,000 employers about three months ago are still pending.”
He said there were 1,500 such employers that could not continue their business due to lack of workers.
“About 1,000 shops have already closed.
“Indian businesses are not as big as Chinese businesses and they can’t sustain long without workers.
“We just want a solution,” said Gobalakrishnan.
He added that many of these government schemes did not trickle down to the grassroots and this had to be looked into.
