KUSKOP TO INCREASE INITIATIVES TO EMPOWER INDIAN COMMUNITY - RAMANAN

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's directive for the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) to increase the number of programmes related to the Indian community will be raised for discussion so that further action can be implemented immediately.

Deputy Minister of Development and Cooperatives Datuk Seri R Ramanan, who is in charge of overseeing the task, is committed to doing his best to ensure the future of the Indian community in the country.

He also expressed his appreciation to the Prime Minister for placing his full trust in him to carry out the responsibility.

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"I will inform KUSKOP Minister Datuk Ewon Benedict of this latest development and will discuss with him on the next step," he said in a statement here tonight.

In a Facebook post, Anwar said Ramanan was responsible for overseeing the task to ensure, among other things, that the allocation in Budget 2025 for the community achieved its goals.

According to the Prime Minister, the matter was decided during his meeting with the management of the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (MITRA) and several Members of Parliament representing the Indian community to discuss ideas to continue to empower the Indian community, today.

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Ramanan, who is also the Member of Parliament for Sungai Buloh, said apart from MITRA, other programmes involving the Indian community are the Empowerment Financing Scheme (SPUMI) Goes Big through TEKUN Nasional; and Bank Rakyat Indian Entrepreneur Financing-i (BRIEF-i).

In addition, Prosperity, Empowerment and A New Normal (PENN) under Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia and the Business Accelerator Programme for Indian Small Business (I-BAP) through SME Corp; all these initiatives, Ramanan said, have brought many meaningful benefits to Indian entrepreneurs. 

Earlier, Ramanan, when met by reporters after launching SME Bank's Roadmap 2.0 here, added that he was also present at the meeting with the Prime Minister this morning and that he was responsible for reporting and answering all initiatives and issues involving the Indian community.

"The Prime Minister instructed me to answer questions related to MITRA as well as other related questions," he said, adding that the decision was made to avoid misleading statements.

-- BERNAMA