By Yasmin Ramlan
SHAH ALAM, Oct 25 — Improving existing Yayasan Hijrah Selangor programmes will be among the agency’s main agendas moving forward, according to its newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Mearia Hamzah.
Among other things, there will be a greater focus on providing training and improving local entrepreneurs’ financial literacy.
She also guaranteed that Hijrah Selangor will continue with its current objective of supporting local entrepreneurs.
“Hijrah Selangor was established to allow small entrepreneurs access to microcredit opportunities, and we are committed to maintaining this objective.
“Each year, we allocate funds to support entrepreneurs, but in the future, we plan to enhance our training and development programmes and empower them (the businesses) with deeper financial planning understanding,” Mearia said.
She was speaking to the press after attending a briefing session and appreciation ceremony with Indian community leaders under the Selangor Indian Entrepreneur Development initiative at the State Secretariat Building today.
The focus on financial literacy is to ensure entrepreneurs better understand their business operations and financial status, including whether they are experiencing profit or losses and their ability to repay Hijrah Selangor loans.
“This (the loan repayments) will enable us to channel funds to help other entrepreneurs.
“Hence, this initiative is crucial, and we will definitely improve it through our training and development programme,” Mearia said.
She officially began her duties as Hijrah Selangor’s CEO on October 16, filling a three-year vacany.
