SHAH ALAM, – The proactive measures taken by the Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority (RISDA) in implementing various programmes to increase income have produced more than 16,000 successful entrepreneurs, thereby supporting economic growth and improving the living standards of the rubber smallholder community throughout the country.
Initiatives such as the Additional Economic Activities (AET) programme, Entrepreneur Development, and the Groom Big programme aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholders through entrepreneurial activities have created many millionaires who now serve as pillars or models for other RISDA-guided entrepreneurs.
To turn Malaysia into a leading entrepreneurial nation by 2030 as outlined in the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030, RISDA, through the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW), has been allocated RM50 million through the AET component to empower 7,000 existing and new entrepreneurs among rubber smallholders this year.
RISDA chairman Manndzr
i Nasib when commenting on the matter said that so far, 1,576 recipients have benefited in the form of grants, with programme expenditure performance totalling RM14.8 million.
He said the AET programme was one of the main thrusts to ensure better returns from rubber crops in line with the agency’s objective of ensuring that smallholders earned a collective income of RM4,500 a month per family by the end of 2025.
“Through the provision under this AET component, each applicant is eligible to apply for grants ranging from RM10,000 to RM20,000 to carry out entrepreneurial activities.
‘Those whose businesses are successfully managed and competitive can apply for additional grants of up to RM50,000,” he said when met by reporters at the 2024 RISDAPreneur Biztalk (RPBT) programme here last night.
Manndzri said the initiative proved RISDA’s commitment to ensuring that smallholders generate additional income and contribute to community development in line with the MADANI Rural Aspiration introduced by KKDW.
He sa
id that RISDA’s role in producing successful entrepreneurs was not an easy task, but rather an endeavor that had risks if not implemented according to the current needs and requirements.
“Therefore, RISDA has taken a bold step in creating the RISDAPreneur Biztalk Program in 2024 to ensure various variations are created to suit current needs and preferences.
“The RPBT programme is implemented to empower entrepreneurs under RISDA’s guidance who have the potential to be highlighted and become a support for other entrepreneurs, where for this year, a total of 116 entrepreneurs attended this programme,” he said.
RPBT 2024 which lasts for four days until tomorrow, has brought together 116 entrepreneurs who have received assistance from RISDA’s Big Groom Programme since 2016, and achieved annual sales of at least RM700,000 and above.
Earlier in his speech, Manndzri reminded RISDA entrepreneurs to collectively increase rubber production alongside their current business performance because over 500,000 smallholder
s depended on rubber planting compared to the 16,000 active entrepreneurs under the RISDA entrepreneurship programme.
He said the main core of entrepreneurial development in RISDA was through the progress in rubber planting, whereby at present, the production of rubber smallholders was in a challenging state, which could affect RISDA’s reputation.
At the ceremony, he also announced the recipients of the Top Achiever Award in four types of business areas that achieve annual sales of at least RM700,000, namely Food Production, Non-Food Production, Non-Marketing Services, and Agricultural Production.
Following is the list of winners in the respective categories:
Food Production Category Name: Farazila binti Salleh State: Johor Company Name: Salleh Food Industries Sdn. Bhd. Product: Various chips Annual sales value: RM 8.68 million
Non-Food Product Production Category Name: Abdul Raof bin Ahmad Zakaria State: Perak Company Name: Syarikat Minyak Afiat Sdn. Bhd. Product: Health (Minyak Afiat) Annual sales valu
e: RM4.59 million
Non-Marketing Services Category Name: Mohd Khusairi bin Ibrahim State: Kedah Company Name: MandN UNIC Enterprise Product: Tyre and vehicle service Annual sales value: RM9.76 million
Agricultural Production Category Name: Muhammad Norsyahidin bin Abu Hasan State: Terengganu Company Name: Din San Sdn. Bhd. Product: Broiler Annual sales value: RM1.37 million
Source: BERNAMA News Agency