MELAKA, Feb 12 — Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB) is encouraging more entrepreneurs under its purview to explore the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) to grow their businesses, said its Chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Ali Rustam.
He said the initiative was in answer to the call of the government that launched the zone in November last year as a platform for PUNB entrepreneurs involved actively in international supply chain.
PUNB’s participation in the world’s first digital free trade zone (e-commerce) would indirectly help expand the potential market of the small and medium enterprises to the global stage, he added.
“We foresee a big potential for the e-commerce sector in view of the government’s target to have about 10,000 companies joining the DFTZ e-commerce platform by year-end,” he said at Budget 2018 Entrepreneurial Discourse: ‘What Do We Get?’ at the Melaka international Trade Centre here today.
Also present were PUNB Deputy Chief Executive Officer Abdul Jammi Karim, PUNB Melaka Branch Manager Hasfiyah Hasan and PUNB Melaka Entrepreneurs Group Chairman Datuk Dr Baba Md Deni, as well as about 1,000 entrepreneurs from the state.
Mohd Ali said the programme was part of PUNB’s continuous effort to upgrade entrepreneurial skills to create a community of entrepreneurs who were knowledgeable and capable and possessed integrity.
“This maiden programme will also offer the opportunity to entrepreneurs to get information and create smart partnerships in various aspects, including negotiation, information sharing, grant, training and technology,” he said.
In a separate development, Mohd Ali said the government allocated RM200 million to PUNB this year for entrepreneurial and business premises programmes to spur the development of the Bumiputera Wellbeing Transformation Policy.
“Of that, PUNB has earmarked 20 per cent to hep entrepreneurs in the halal food and beverage field to promote their products internationally, including in Singapore and China, through the Halal Hub platform,” he added. — Bernama
