PUTRAJAYA: Winners of the Rural Business Challenge (RBC) 2.0 programme, organised by the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, will receive prizes in the form of business grants totalling RM15mil.
Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Rubiah Wang said the ministry is targeting more than 2,500 participants for the competition aimed at encouraging rural youth to choose entrepreneurship as a career.
Applications for participation in RBC 2.0 are now open until Jan 31, 2024, through the website RBC 2.0 at https://rbc2u.com.
“Applications will have to go through several vetting and evaluation processes either online or physically,” she said at the launch of the RBC 2.0 competition in conjunction with the Rural Entrepreneurs Carnival in Anjung Floria here yesterday, Bernama reported.
Rubiah said the competition, introduced in 2012, has been given a new lease of life with several improvements, especially the youth entrepreneurship programme.
“However, it still maintains its original concept as a business development programme through the organisation of a business plan competition,” she said.
According to her, the improvements include the mentoring and monitoring of the RBC 2.0 winners by experienced entrepreneurs as well as online participation and evaluation.
Rubiah said the winners are required to implement businesses such as those proposed in the business plan based on the amount of business grants won.
All business plans will be assessed through five levels of evaluation by a panel consisting of the ministry’s officials and agencies, other ministries, technical departments, banks, industry experts and parties appointed according to the appropriate evaluation level.
