PUTRAJAYA: The 33-day 2024 MADANI Raya Sales Program (PJMR), being held since March 8, is expected to record sales of RM1.6 million, said the Minister of Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development, Datuk Ewon Benedick (pix).

He said the programme, to end on April 9, offers sales of items for Aidilfitri preparations and daily necessities at a discount rate of up to 20 per cent,

“During the first two weeks of the sale, the PJMR, which is organised by the ministry, recorded sales of RM415,800 (as of March 22) with 44,212 visitors.

“Hopefully, with two more weeks to go, sales at the 60 booths will continue to increase,” he told the media after a walkabout at the PJMR 2024 at Dataran Anjung Syawal, Precinct 3, here last night.

Also present were the Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk R Ramanan and the ministry’s Secretary-General Datuk Seri Suriani Ahmad.

Ewon said the PJMR, held in conjunction with the Putrajaya Ramadan Festival 2024, aimed to help eased the burden of the people who are affected by the rising cost of living.

He said the PJMR 2024 involved the participation of 28 entrepreneurs and 13 cooperatives.

PJMR 2024 not only saves people’s spending on Aidilfitri preparations but also empowers and promotes the businesses of entrepreneurs and cooperatives, he said.

Meanwhile, Ewon said the “Mari Beli Lokal - Ramadan dan Raya 2024” campaign through the MyMall digital platform can stimulate the digital economy.

“The online buy local campaign sales programme is a new trend that may contribute to the decline in direct sales, but many many people prefer to buy online to avoid congestion and so on,“ he said when commenting on media reports yesterday about the lukewarm preparations for the Adilfitri celebration at the moment.

KUSKOP is targeting RM2.5 million in sales revenue from local entrepreneurs through the ‘Let’s Buy Local - Ramadan and Raya 2024’ campaign which is organised for the second time following the success of the campaign in 2023, which recorded sales of up to RM2.5 million.

Nearly 500 entrepreneurs are expected to participate in the campaign by offering various products such as instant cooking paste, retail products, Raya clothes and Raya cakes.

The campaign aims to attract public support to local products produced by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives in Malaysia. -Bernama