DEPUTY Minister for Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development, Datuk Ripin Lamat (GPS-Lambir) has outlined the comprehensive efforts under the Sarawak Youth StartUp Programme to tackle the pressing challenges faced by young entrepreneurs in the state.
Speaking at a press conference during the Sarawak State Assembly yesterday, he detailed the programme’s initiatives and objectives aimed at fostering sustainable entrepreneurship among Sarawak’s youth.
“The Sarawak Youth Startup Programme is not just a short-term initiative. It is a holistic, integrated and long-term development programme that addresses the main challenges faced by our young entrepreneurs.”
Ripin highlighted five primary issues hampering the growth of youth entrepreneurship. One of them is fixed mindset, where entrepreneurs are satisfied with their current achievements and hesitant to push their potential further.
“While their products have high potential, they settle for what they already have instead of striving for greater heights,” he explained.
Second issue that he brought up was financial literacy as the lack of knowledge in financial management, bookkeeping, and auditing remained a significant barrier.
He said without proper financial records, entrepreneurs struggled to access funding or attract investors.
The third one he mentioned was limited access to funding. Despite the availability of numerous schemes from the state and federal governments, many entrepreneurs remain unaware of them due to inadequate information dissemination.
Fourth issue pertained to the networking and mentorship deficiency, he said. Entrepreneurs often lack access to experienced mentors and a strong network to exchange ideas and experiences. The programme aims to create a robust ecosystem for collaboration and mentorship.
The last issues he mentioned were skills and knowledge gaps.Many youth have the ambition to be entrepreneurs but lack essential skills like branding, packaging, and product development.
“The programme emphasises support of monthly follow-ups in the first year, bi-monthly reviews in the second year and quarterly updates by the third year. This ensures continuous development and progress for participants,” he said.
Ripin hoped that the programme would nurture job creators rather than job seekers.
“Our goal is to create more entrepreneurs, which will drive socio-economic growth and align with Sarawak’s Post COVID Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he said.
The programme’s first cohort, starting Dec 7-14 at the Sarawak Sport Village, aims to train 300 participants.
Ripin urged young Sarawakians to seize the opportunity and register through a QR code system.
Drawing inspiration from startup hubs in Korea, such as the Seoul Startup Hub, the ministry envisions establishing a Youth Startup Hub in Sarawak to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
