PUTRAJAYA, Jan 7 — The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) and Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM) will forge a strategic cooperation to empower the socio-economic development of women, the elderly, Bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40) and people with disabilities (OKU) through entrepreneurship.

Medac in a statement today said the franchise and cooperative platforms will be fully utilised to assist entrepreneurs from this target group.

“This platform is able to provide a comprehensive entrepreneurial facilitation package covering the aspects of branding, marketing and financing of the entrepreneurs’ products and services.

“Furthermore, this cooperative and franchise platform will be able to be an effective and efficient platform in channelling assistance and guidance to the entrepreneurs involved,” it said.

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According to the statement, the collaboration also aims to strengthen the involvement of women and other target groups such as the elderly, B40 and OKU, with the objective of improving their socio-economic status through opportunities to increase their income and living standards especially for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Through the collaboration between Medac and KPWKM, various initiatives have been drafted to increase the participation of women, especially those involved in the informal sector.

“Initiatives designed to strengthen the participation of women, the elderly, B40 and OKU have also been proposed between the two ministries through 13 areas of strategic cooperation, spanning training and guidance, financing, market access, and data sharing,” Medac said.

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Among the suggestions are training and guidance to participants in the 2 Years Exit Programme (2YEP) 2.0; INSKEN Business Coaching in the field of post-natal care; training and certification in elderly care; empowerment of training and guidance in the field of child care; as well as women entrepreneur development and business financing programmes.

“All these strategic cooperation proposals will be finalised through a memorandum of understanding by both ministries,” according to the statement. — Bernama