MEMBAKUT: Some 4,500 youth small traders throughout Sabah have been assisted under Syabas which aims to empower the group’s economy, so far.
Assemblyman Datuk Datuk Dr Arifin Arif said that the assistance was inspired by the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Haji Noor, who is always concerned about the welfare and needs of youth.
“This programme will continue in the Sugut, Tenom, Nabawan and inland areas, thus helping the remaining youth traders who have not yet received this assistance.
“We will also continue this programme next year on a larger scale as requested by the Chief Minister (Hajiji) to ensure that no youth traders are left behind,” he said.
Introduced in 2022, Syabas is a new initiative of the state government to drive economic development and strengthen the potential of Sabah’s youths.
The programme was pioneered by Hajiji to help youths of Sabah to develop existing businesses or start new businesses.
The state government allocated RM10 million for Syabas as financial assistance to Sabah’s youth entrepreneurs.
The main objectives of the programme is to help youths who have lost employment due to the Covid-19 pandemic to go into business, and help youth entrepreneurs who have products to develop their business operations and to assist them to build an international network through export/import business activities so that they can sustain the business.
The programme targets Sabah Bumiputera youths aged 18 to 40 years.
The Membakut Assemblyman Service Centre would play an active role in assisting entrepreneurs and traders from the youth group in this area.
Dr Arifin said his party would collect data and business information including needs and assistance required from the state government.
“We will collect data and the type of their business, including identifying the needs and types of assistance provided by the government that can be channelled for their businesses.
“We will refer to the Institute for Government and People Cooperation (Ikrar), including the Ministry of Youth and Sports regarding the assistance provided by the government for this group,” he said.
A total of 100 small traders from the youth group each received a ‘one-off’ cash assistance of RM500 under the Sabah Youth Entrepreneur Jaya Scheme (Syabas) presented by Ariffin.
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