Greater PPP Participation Needed To Realise NEF Objectives

KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 (Bernama) --The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED) is calling for greater public-private partnership (PPP) participation to realise the objectives outlined within the National Entrepreneurship Framework (NEF). Secretary-General Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi said that such partnerships are important elements in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit among Malaysian businesses as set out within the NEF’s strategic objectives. “One of the framework’s target is for small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to contribute 41 per cent to Malaysia’s gross domestic product by 2020, which currently stands at about 37 per cent,” she said in a statement Friday. Wan Suraya said the ministry planned to create one million jobs within the next five years which would entail 50,000 entrepreneurs creating 200,000 job opportunities annually. “We also aim to train 50,000 graduates annually in the entrepreneurial sector, ensure a RM50 billion turnover by co-operatives by 2020, and increase SME contribution to exports from the present 17 per cent to 23 per cent then,” she added. Meanwhile, Wan Suraya congratulated Commerce.Asia founder and executive chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah in a meeting Friday on the recent acquisition of PanPages Lab Sdn Bhd, the owner of Southeast Asia’s largest SME database. Panpages’s database contained insights into seven million SMEs spanning six countries -- Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia. Ganesh said the strategic acquisition gave the company valuable insights into five key ASEAN countries that was valuable in today’s evolving online marketing and sales opportunities. Commerce.Asia is an e-commerce ecosystem builder that integrates technology solutions, talent development programmes and big data insights for Southeast Asian businesses to succeed online. -- BERNAMA