PUTRAJAYA: Local university students will be able to intern in small- and medium-enterprises (SME) around the country from next year.

Starting from the 2009-2010 semester, 5,000 undergraduates will be chosen from 20 public universities for attachment at 1,250 SME.

Depending on the final-year students' own internship programmes, the stint will last between three and six months.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the SMEs would be across the board in terms of industries.

"We are also not just going to give priority to business students for this internship programme," he said, adding that it was open to undergraduates from all faculties.
"This programme can instil entrepreneurship skills in them which will certainly be helpful in all industries."

International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the programme would encourage students to open up their own businesses upon graduation.



The two were speaking to reporters after witnessing of the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Small- and Medium-Industries Development Corporation (Smidec) and the Higher Education Ministry on the matter.

"When they want to kickstart their own SME, Smidec will provide them with all the training and loans that they need.

"Imagine if all 5,000 of them become entrepreneurs, and each of them hire another five of their fellow graduates, then this programme would have created 25,000 jobs," Muhyiddin said, adding that the government will be spending RM3 million on the programme in allowance for trainees.

"Many of the SMEs which have signed up for the programme are cottage industries. The interns, who would've had three or four years of university training behind them, can also act as a consultant for these SMEs in finance management or making the business ICT-compliant."

The programme comes after the success of a pilot project by Smidec earlier this year where 20 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia students interned at SMEs for three months.