In line with Malaysia’s new economic model, which emphasises both Capital Economy and People Economy, East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC)’s human capital development programmes in Kelantan have benefited 10,200 people, of which 93 per cent of the participants are from the bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40).
ECERDC’s signature human capital development programme, empower ECER has successfully reached out to over 6,740 students from Jeli, Bachok, Ketereh, Gua Musang, Tumpat and Machang under its academic training while another 1,800 people participated in the skills and entrepreneurship training.
“Under empower ECER programme, we upskill our participants by providing practical courses in hospitality, culinary, fashion, post-natal and spa and scaffolder.
“The success of this programme is clearly demonstrated with more than 80% of our participants going into entrepreneurship or obtaining jobs upon completion of the programme.
“Importantly, about 50% of the participants increased their income up to RM1, 500 a month once they complete their training,” said ECERDC chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Jebasingam Issace John.
Meanwhile, the entrepreneur ECER programme helps the local community to expand their business network including at the international level.
In September last year, two entrepreneurs from Kelantan were sponsored by ECERDC to promote their products at the 12th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO 2015) in Nanning, China. Following that, they succeeded in generating export sales to China worth RM9 million.
According to Issace, the spill-over benefit can be clearly seen in this case when MH Mohd Sdn Bhd signed a MoU with Agropolitan Kelantan Selatan to supply four tonnes of Kulai chilli following the company’s success in securing the contract to supply two containers of chilli sauce to China on a monthly basis worth RM500,000 per month.
“This partnership helped boost the income for 30 families at Agropolitan Kelantan Selatan,” added Issace.
– MalaysiaGazette
http://malaysiagazette.com/en/economy/empower-ecer-entrepreneur-ecer-benefit-10200-kelantan
