Students Urged to Shift Mindset and Venture into Business – Redzuan

KUALA LUMPUR – University students must change their mindset and be bold in pursuing entrepreneurship to support Malaysia’s goal of emerging as the “Asian Tiger,” said Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof.

He stressed that students should equip themselves with core competencies and take advantage of their time in university to develop a broad range of skills that prepare them for the business world.

“As of 2018, there were 45 graduate cooperatives nationwide, with a total membership of 1,432 and generating RM1.1 million in revenue. This number is relatively small compared to over 600 higher education institutions (HEIs) operating across the country,” he said during the closing ceremony of the 2019 National Student Cooperative Empowerment Convention.

Redzuan emphasized the ministry’s ongoing commitment to embedding the cooperative culture among all segments of society, particularly students, to ensure the student cooperative movement becomes more competitive and innovative, especially in facing the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4.0).

He added that the Entrepreneur Development Ministry (MED) is also dedicated to running entrepreneurship development programs through various agencies to cultivate a strong cooperative entrepreneurial culture nationwide.

“Agencies under MED such as the Malaysian Cooperative Institute, the National Entrepreneurship Institute, the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), and the PROTEGE program offer comprehensive entrepreneurship training aimed at producing more entrepreneurs, particularly among youth,” he said.

The three-day convention gathered 500 students from various local universities, including Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaysia Kelantan (UMK), and Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM).

Commenting on the 2020 Budget, Redzuan said the RM10 million allocation for strengthening the halal industry is insufficient given the global scale and potential of the sector.

“With such huge opportunities in the halal industry, RM10 million is not enough. If it were up to me, I’d propose bringing in entrepreneurs from around the world to develop and produce halal products in Malaysia,” he said.

Under the 2020 Budget tabled by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng last Friday, MED was allocated RM10 million for advisory services and awareness campaigns on halal certification, product development, and platforms to help local players compete in the global halal market, which is currently valued at approximately USD 3 trillion.

–Source