ALOR GAJAH: 29 asnaf entrepreneurs registered under the Melaka Islamic Religious Council (MAIM) will receive business grant benefits amounting to RM435,000 under the Tunas Perintis Usahawan Programme. SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) chief executive officer Rizal Nainy announced that the programme is a strategic collaboration between SME Corp, an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, and MAIM.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, participants who successfully present their business plans are eligible to receive a business start-up grant of up to RM15,000 per participant. All participants are then required to report their business status periodically to ensure that their business performance is constantly monitored and improved over time, Rizal Nainy stated in a recent announcement.

Rizal further commented that the MAIM programme is a continuation of initiatives implemented by SME Corp and several religious councils. He highlighted that these initiatives include the Baitulma
l Tunas Usahawan Programme (TUB) for the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council and the Penang Tunas Usahawan Zakat Programme (TUZPP) for the Penang State Islamic Religious Council.

The TUB and TUZPP programmes have successfully trained 183 asnaf entrepreneurs, achieving a total sales value of RM6.13 million. These training-based programmes are specifically designed to meet the needs of asnaf participants and are inspired by the Tunas Usahawan Belia Bumiputera (TUBE) Programme. The TUBE programme, an existing initiative under SME Corp, has successfully produced numerous youth entrepreneurs. To date, the TUBE programme has trained 8,543 youths, with business grants amounting to RM125.84 million.

As a note, asnaf refers to those eligible to receive zakat assistance collected from Muslims.