PUTRAJAYA: Rural entrepreneurs were today told to not be too dependent on government aid as it only serves as a catalyst to help them, said Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.
She said they should have their own initiative to make their business a success.
“The aid provided by the government should be utilised wisely for the business to grow, and not used for personal interests,” she said at the 2019 Rural Entrepreneur Carnival here today.
Apart from that, she said, they should also focus on the marketing aspect, which is among challenges facing rural entrepreneurs, as many of them only relied on domestic market.
“This is due to several factors, including quality of products and services, poor marketing network, no certification, ineffective strategy and lack of promotion.
“To expand the market for products by rural entrepreneurs, several strategies have to be implemented for them to dominate the domestic market and penetrate the global market, including online marketing.
“Under the Rural Development Ministry, there is also the Desamall @ Online programme which rural entrepreneurs can use to market their products online such as on Lazada, Shopee and PrestoMall,” she added.
Rina said the government would improve the existing entrepreneurial ecosystem to support efforts to produce successful rural entrepreneurs.
Later, at a media conference, Rina said participants at the carnival recorded a total sale of RM14.74 million for the first two days of the five-day carnival.
The five-day carnival is expected to bring total sales of RM40 million, she added. — Bernama
