(From left) Ismail and Awang Habiburllah display the TUBE flag during the launch ceremony, as Mohammad Izham, Mohammad Affendy, Nazrin and Mohd Irman look on.
KOTA SAMARAHAN: Ninety-two Bumiputera youths from Sarawak have been selected for this year’s Tunas Usahawan Belia Muda (TUBE) 6.0 programme, run by Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp).
According to SME Corp development and state relations director Mohammad Izham Abdullah, the final participants were selected among 552 applicants through a series of screening sessions.
“In Sarawak, 552 applications were received. The screening process included health tests and interview sessions, which were done to ensure that they’re truly eligible and really interested in entrepreneurship.
“For this session (TUBE 6.0), only 92 applicants (from Sarawak) have been selected. As such, those chosen today are lucky and they should take this opportunity to learn more about business management,” he said in his opening remarks for the ceremony held at Tun Abang Salahuddin Islamic Centre (Pitas) of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here yesterday.
Mohammad Izham said the TUBE 6.0 participants would have the opportunity to learn more about financial management, business regulations such as registration and licensing, as well as effective marketing strategies.
The sixth session of TUBE was officially launched nationwide yesterday, involving 513 participants including 29 individuals with disability.
All those chosen for this programme would go through three phases – all aimed at ensuring that they would have the physical and mental endurance in preparing to start a business.
Participants from Sarawak underwent their Phase 1 training at the Reserve Officers Training Unit (Palapes) Camp in Unimas, where the regimen was basically military training.
“The participants will also be exposed to the landscapes and real-world business challenges. Upon finishing their training, the businesses set up by the participants will be monitored and guided by SME Corp business counsellors for 12 months through the ‘buddy system’,” said SME Corp in a statement released yesterday.
Since TUBE kicked off in 2014, it has trained a total of 4,422 Bumiputera youths from all over Malaysia, where 4,380 – or 99 per cent – of them have established their respective businesses.
The programme has also recorded total sales of RM107.3 million and created 9,955 employment opportunities.
“The TUBE programme have garnered support and strategic cooperation from over 30 strategic partners, both on federal and state levels, including the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Economic Affairs,” said SME Corp.
Also present yesterday were SME Corp board member Awang Habiburllah Awang Ismail, SME Corp Sarawak director Ismail Hasyim, Unimas director of entrepreneurs development Prof Mohammad Affendy Arip, head of Bank Negara Malaysia Kuching Office, Mohd Irman Mohd Din, and Unimas Palapes chief trainer Capt Nazrin Mohd Ghazali.