OVER 2,700 UNISZA STUDENTS INVOLVED IN BUSINESS, INNOVATION LAST YEAR

KUALA NERUS, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- A total of 2,733 students of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) were identified as being actively involved in business throughout last year.

UniSZA Centre for Career, Technopreneurship and Smart Networking (PaKaT) director Assoc Prof Dr Fazida Karim said the achievement was the result of the implementation of the Ministry of Higher Education’s Entrepreneurship Action Plan (PTK), which encouraged student involvement in business activities, innovation and strategic collaboration with industry players.

She said the achievement also reflected the effectiveness of the university’s comprehensively developed entrepreneurship ecosystem, encompassing talent development, financing support and exposure to real market environments.

“The focused and structured implementation of the Ministry of Higher Education’s PTK enabled UniSZA to achieve 100 per cent attainment of the seven Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set, involving student participation in business activities, innovation and strategic collaboration with industry partners.

“The achievement proves UniSZA’s continued commitment to producing competitive graduates who are capable of creating their own employment opportunities,” she said in a statement today.

Fazida said that throughout last year, PaKaT also succeeded in securing entrepreneurship funding exceeding RM500,000 to support the development and strengthening of the entrepreneurship ecosystem for UniSZA students and alumni.

According to her, the financial support enabled UniSZA to develop a more sustainable and high-impact entrepreneurship ecosystem, in line with the national aspirations for higher education.

Among the high-impact initiatives was the organisation of the Digital Innovation Creativepreneur (DICE) 3.0 Programme, which attracted 742 participants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, thereby strengthening regional entrepreneurship networks.

“The impact of the implementation of PTK at UniSZA is also evidenced by graduate entrepreneurship continuity data showing that 279 graduates continued their involvement in business after completing their studies,” she said.

-- BERNAMA