Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) via Professional Training and Education for Growing Entrepreneurs (PROTÉGÉ) has launched the New Gen Entrepreneurs Online Bootcamp (N-GENE) Program to cultivate entrepreneurship among youth. It is an extension of the PROTÉGÉ – Ready to Work Program aimed to encourage youth in choosing entrepreneurship as their career of choice upon graduation.
Since their branding in 2019, PROTÉGÉ has successfully trained a total of 13,135 graduates for employment and a total of 1,643 graduates have been successfully absorbed into permanent positions.
MEDAC is concerned by limited employment opportunities during the pandemic and is urging graduates to develop a change in mindset by stepping out of the cocoon of conventional thinking of being traditional job seekers surviving day-to-day with a measly pay-check to becoming job creators as empowered entrepreneurs.
N-GENE Program will facilitate and train 2000 youth and fresh graduates to start their own business through a structured entrepreneurship training module which includes basic entrepreneurship as well as business coaching for seven (7) months led by PROTÉGÉ. Additionally, participants will also be given a micro business start -up grant worth RM 3,000 per person.
The program has received support from SME Banks CEDAR, PERNAS, INSKEN and also TEKUN Nasional. The program is open to youth or graduates between the ages of 18 to 30 who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. Those who are just starting a business are also encouraged to apply.
The N-GENE program, is one of the many initiatives under PEMERKASA, an entity which has had collaborations previously with MEDAC, the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Apart from N-GENE, a total of 21 programs and initiatives with an estimated cost of RM83.4 million have been designed under their collaboration to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among the youth, graduates and athletes since May 2020. As of 30 June 2021, records show a total of 1,238 people from the target group has benefited from this collaboration.
MEDAC will continue to remain committed to assist graduates and youths in venturing into the field of entrepreneurship in line with the objectives of the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 (DKN 2030) to form a Malaysian society with an entrepreneurial mindset and culture.
For any further information, application requirements and steps for the N-GENE Program can be accessed through the website link : http://protege.gov.my/www/index.php?id=9&page_id=82 and PROTÉGÉ’s official social media. The Secretariat can also be contacted at 03-2935 8989 or email [email protected].
