KUALA LUMPUR: The government is set to introduce two landmark programmes that will provide recognition, benefits and incentives for the country’s fledgling social enterprise sector, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced today.
Najib said the programmes, to be launched in the beginning of June next year, will benefit at least 500,000 Bottom 40 (B40) individuals through the work of Malaysia’s social enterprises.
“This is on top of the targeted 1,000 new social enterprises by 2018, which I committed to during the launch of the National Social Enterprise Blueprint in May 2015,” he said.
The two programmes – known as the Social Enterprise Certification and the Social Procurement Incentive, will be implemented by the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), an agency under the Ministry of Finance.
Najib said this when launching the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GEC) and Malaysia Commercialisation Year Summit 2016 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here today.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, later announced the second wave of the Malaysia Commercialisation Year for 2017, which he said would bring about new and innovative tech-based solutions.
“I am also happy to announce two strategic initiatives that will be undertaken by the government, through MaGIC. These initiatives are designed to support each other in creating entrepreneurs who will have transformative effects on their various sectors and communities,” he said.
The two initiatives are the Global Accelerator Programme -- to support the nine clusters at GEC in building next-generation entrepreneurs, and the Asean Impact challenge -- to harness global talents to solve problems affecting Asean communities.
Najib added that the initiatives will encourage new ways of doing business, formalise the inclusion of corporations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, increase support for entrepreneurs and catalyse growth.