STATE Entrepreneurial Development, Trade and Industry Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain hopes that Penang will have at least 500 social enterprises by the year 2030.
Abdul Halim shared this during the Penang Entrepreneurship Forum 2023 at the Olive Hotel today.
“We would like to see Penang lead as the social enterprises’ hub not only here but also in the Asean region, with the support of the ministry (Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development).
“Here, we have a healthy and conducive environment with some 400 multinationals ready to assist via their corporate social responsibility (CSR).
“We also have thousands of local large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) ready to support social enterprises via CSR.
“This is the opportunity that the local social enterprises should take advantage of and currently, we only have 20 (social enterprises),” Halim said during his speech at the forum.
The forum was jointly organised by Abdul Halim’s office and local social enterprise Aimpactz with the support of the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, Malaysia (MECD).
Also present were MECD deputy secretary (policy& monitoring) Noor Afifah Abdul Razak , Batu Uban assemblyman A. Kumaresan, MECD Undersecretary, Policy and International Relations Dr. Syahira Hamidon, Institut Keusahawanan Negara (INSKEN) chief executive officer Muhd Firdaus Azharuddin and Aimpactz Social Enterprise founder Dr. Choong Jian Ming.
The event also featured a video keynote from Nobel Peace laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus who is from Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Noor Afifah said the MECD had launched the Malaysia Social Entrepreneurship Blueprint 2030 (SEMy2030) in 2022, to lay the foundation to create an ideal social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Malaysia.
She added that the policy would help steer Malaysia’s social entrepreneurship towards growth and development as well as encourage more people to become social entrepreneurs.
Apart from that, Noor Afifah said that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has agreed to approve income tax exemption for Accredited Social Enterprises under subsection 127(3A) of the Income Tax Act 1967.
“The period of obtaining the approval of this tax exemption is until 31st December 2023 for three (3) consecutive assessment years, subject to the validity period of Social Enterprise Accreditation.
“This is one of the incentives given to accredited Social Enterprises to promoting the growth of Social Enterprises in Malaysia,” she said.
Noor Afifah also said the Federal government, under the Budget 2023, recently announced various incentives that can be enjoyed by social enterprises through agencies under MECD.
“For instance, Social Enterprise Financing Schemes and Skim Juara Lestari from SME Bank with a fund size of RM21 million, as well as entrepreneurship training and guidance programme by Institut Keusahawanan Negara(INSKEN).
“The accreditation helps to differentiate social enterprises from traditional businesses or non-profit organisations.
“Social enterprises have a unique business model that seeks to achieve social and environmental goals while also generating profits, and accreditation can help to communicate this distinctiveness to stakeholders,” she added.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi