KOTA KINABALU: Rural small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs did not receive Covid-19 aid as they are not registered, says Sabah Industrial Development Assistant Minister Mohd Tamin Zainal.

       He said these unregistered micro-SMEs did not meet the criteria set by the Inland Revenue Board for such assistance.

       He also said they were also unable to obtain the Social Security Organisation (Socso) wage subsidy facilities to retain their workers as they were not registered with the organisation.

       Tamin told the State Assembly rural SME entrepreneurs have now started registering to meet the requirements of various government regulations.

       "They have started to take the initiative to comply with the existing rules and regulations," he added.

       Tamin then said that 39,200 micro-SMEs and cottage industry entrepreneurs in Sabah benefited from Covid-19 assistance with a total allocation of RM 25.7mil last year.

       He added that the SME Assistance (BAIKS) 2021 programme that was carried out by the Department of Industrial Development and Research benefited 1,430 entrepreneurs.

       The assistance included machinery and equipment assistance, product packaging, digitisation and franchise business, he said.

       Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister and state Industrial Development Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam told the House that the government will work with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to carry out an eight-month study on entrepreneurship development in the state.

       He said the Sabah Entrepreneurship Development Transformation Action Plan 2023 - 2028 will be produced as a direction or guide for the implementation of entrepreneurship development programmes for all relevant agencies.

       "This plan will also propose suitable industries and products in each district in Sabah by referring to the available natural resources. With this plan later, each region will have an industry or product identity that reflects the region," he added.