KUCHING: A task force on business permit and licence registration has been established to assist more women entrepreneurs and youths who have yet to register their businesses in the state.
Minister of Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah said there were many small and medium enterprises (SMEs), micro businesses, home-based including online businesses that had not been registered.
Because their businesses had not been registered and they did not have business licences, many were unable to apply for the Covid-19 financial assistance given by both the federal and state governments such as the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) and the Bantuan Khas Sarawakku Sayang (BKSS).
“Based on a survey conducted by the Sarawak Women and Family Development (JWKS), it was found that not all the entrepreneurs are able to benefit from these financial aids,” she told a press conference at Wisma Wanita on Monday (June 22).
Fatimah said, for example, as of June 11, 2020, 903 applications for the BKSS were received from Dalat.
However only 88 applications or 9.7 percent were approved.
“For Subis district, out of the 829 entrepreneurs who do not have business licences, 552 or 67 percent of them are women,” she said.
“That is why there is an urgency to set up this task force.
“The issue of business registration is not new.
“Many entrepreneurs are unaware of the importance of registering their businesses or having business permits.
“Some do not have the capital to register their businesses, some do not have permanent premises and some do not want to pay taxes to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
“There is a wrong perception that there is no need to register online businesses,” she said.
Fatimah told that the task force team would go on the ground and start engaging with the unlicensed entrepreneurs in July.
It would start operating in Kuching first.
She added the task force consisted of various agencies including JWKS, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development Sarawak (Mintred), Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA), Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), IRB, Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (Centex), Kuching North City Commission (DBKU), local authorities and District Officers, said Fatimah.
