Kota Kinabalu: Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said his priority is to focus on his ministerial responsibilities rather than engaging in ongoing political debates.
“The selection has been made and decisions have been made through a process. I think all parties in PH are parties that uphold democratic practices,” he said when asked about the debate surrounding his appointment as Sabah Pakatan Harapan Chairman after officiating at the Robert T 1994 Lucky Draw Ceremony at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, here, Sunday.
Advertisement“But just like other elections, sometimes people want to make petitions, sometimes the Election Commission needs to make verification.
“The important thing is that the process has run its course, decisions have been made and we respect that.
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The Upko President was elected as the new Sabah PH Chairman on Dec. 1, 2024 during the Sabah PH general meeting.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});However, the legitimacy of his appointment was questioned by some Sabah PKR leaders who claimed the quota for Sabah belongs to PKR and not Upko.
The post was previously held by Sabah PKR’s Datuk Seri Christina Liew who lost by three votes.
Advertisement (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});Meanwhile, Ewon said his Ministry through Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (Pernas) has introduced several new schemes.
“This includes what we will implement in Sabah with the Sabah Ministry of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship (MIDE), Sabah Ministry of Rural Development, Perbadanan Hal Ehwal Bekas Angkatan Tentera, Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority and Sabah Economic Development Corporation,” he said.
“This is part of our Ministry’s internal ‘Look East’ policy that we want to implement, which is to inspire new schemes and initiatives focused on entrepreneur participation in Sabah and Sarawak.
“As a Minister from Sabah, I want to focus on initiatives that benefit Sabah’s entrepreneurial development. I will not touch on matters other than my work focus.
“I will also start special committee meetings to monitor sick projects in Sabah,” he said, adding that some 400 Federal projects are delayed, have not started or are sick.
“I want to focus all my energy on being part of this monitoring and solution,” he said.
“The Ministry and our agencies like Pernas will continue to offer appropriate services and financing needed by these entrepreneurs to venture into the entrepreneurship sector, contribute to our country’s economy and provide job opportunities for our people. This is my focus for 2025,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, he congratulated Pernas as an agency under his Ministry for constantly seeking and developing new entrepreneurs and businesses, particularly in the franchise sector to be in the market.
He said to date, Pernas has channelled RM461 million in franchise financing to 2,283 franchise entrepreneurs since 2014. Of this amount, RM12.4 million has been channelled to 68 Sabah entrepreneurs.
“For 2025, a total of RM6 million is specially allocated for financing through the Young Entrepreneurship Engagement Talent Programme (YOUNITY) and Successful Women Entrepreneurship Engagement Talent Programme (Sweet), RM3.5 million for the I-VIP programme, while RM29 million is specifically provided for franchise and pre-franchise financing.
“I am informed that the Robert T 1994 brand has 35 branches in Sabah including in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam.
“I understand that the cooperation between Pernas and Robert T 1994 has been established since 2023. Through Pernas’ advice and assistance, Robert T 1994 is now in the process of obtaining a franchise licence,” he said.
He said Pernas has provided financing of RM500,000 to Robert T to add three more corporate-owned branches at Suria Sabah Shopping Mall, Bandar Baru Keningau and also in Tawau.
“Although it started in 2020, with branches owned in Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Putatan, Keningau, Kota Belud and many more, it proves that this brand is growing rapidly and has become one of Sabah’s pride home-grown brands.
“I am pleased that the franchise industry is growing rapidly and this is a good sign when more people are venturing into the franchise business. This positive scenario benefits the country as it can stimulate the domestic economy,” Ewon said.
He said to date, a total of 3,565 franchise entrepreneurs consisting of franchisors and franchisees are registered under the Malaysia Franchise Express 2.0 (MyFEX 2.0) System.
“In Sabah, various local franchise brands such as Sinar Suria, Nuvis, Fook Yuen, Mok and Happy Potato have enlivened the franchise industry.
“Pernas is now actively promoting local franchise brands through cooperation between the Ministry and agencies in Sabah.
“Last year, a programme known as the Sabah Entrepreneur Empowerment Programme (Push) in collaboration with MIDE guided 40 entrepreneurs to transform their businesses to be more systematic and modern and ready to be developed towards franchising.
“My hope is that more franchise businesses can be opened in Sabah and throughout Malaysia. I also want to see potential businesses like Robert T 1994 identified and developed to increase entrepreneur income while contributing to the country’s economic growth.
“I believe continuous efforts from the Ministry and government agencies like Pernas can produce more local franchise entrepreneurs.
“We in the Ministry will always be committed and responsible in ensuring the success of entrepreneurs in the spirit of Malaysia Madani to drive national development to a more excellent level and ensure the country’s business ecosystem remains competitive and sustainable,” he said.
Present were Pernas Acting Chief Executive Officer cum Chief Operations Officer Tengku Mohamed Fadhli Tengku Hamzah, Robert T 1994 Executive Director Dr Robert Tang and his General Manager Hwang Chyi Chyi.
