Agricultural Grant and Loans Seminar

First row, from left: Ching, Kelly Wong, Ling, Datuk Chong, Dr Chong, Lee, and Wong with the participants

To encourage more young agropreneurs to start up or expand their business, an agricultural grant and loans seminar was held at Sungai Long Campus on 19 August 2017.

The seminar was launched in collaboration between Koperasi Petani Muda Malaysia (KPMM), UTAR, Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia (KOJADI), Agrobank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Malaysia (MOA) Unit Agropreneur Muda dan Strategik Lautan Biru Kebangsaan. 

Present at the event were Deputy Minister of Education Senator Datuk Chong Sin Woon, UTAR Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) Deputy Dean for Student Development and Industrial Training Dr Chong Shyue Chuan and Department of Consultancy and Commercialisation Head Ching Yen Choon, MOA Unit Agropreneur Muda dan Strategik Lautan Biru Kebangsaan  Deputy Director Rizal Hafizi Bin Jamaludin, Agrobank (Seksyen Pembangunan Usahawan) Senior Executive Mohd Nazry Abdullah Sani, KOJADI Assistant Manager of Corporate Affairs Lee Sang and Marketing Executive Kelly Wong Swee Kien, KPMM Secretary Nicole Wong Siaw Ting and Treasurer Ling Kah Chok.

Datuk Chong speaking to the participant

“Lesser lands are made available for the agricultural purpose, as more and more central areas are being converted for housing and commerce. If we didn’t plan a proper strategy to cope with this situation, our food prices and logistics costs will be more and more expensive,” said Datuk Chong at the opening ceremony. He encouraged the participants to learn and study more in order to become a modern farmer, as well as to persevere and not to give up easily with their journey in entrepreneurship. He also urged the aspiring agriculture players especially youths to venture into the agriculture industry by using advanced technology or in creative ways.

The seminar included talks and workshops, where the officers provided valuable information to the participants and guided them in proposal writing and filling in the forms. Two types of loans were made available to qualified applicants under the explanation of KPMM and KOJADI, namely “Micro Credit Loan” and “SME Loan”. The loan amount for “Micro Credit Loan” and “SME Loan” respectively ranges from RM5,000 to RM50,000 and RM50,000 to RM250,000. The loan repayment tenure is from one year to a maximum of five years, at an annual interest rate of four percent. Applicant must be aged between 18 to 60 years.

On the other hand, MOA provided loan with a maximum amount of RM200,000. The loan repayment tenure is at a maximum of seven years, with two percent of annual interest rate. Applicant must be aged between 18 to 40 years.

For any inquiry, kindly contact KPMM at 03-22033866 or email to kpmmalaysia@gmail.com .