CYBERJAYA: At a time when Malaysians are facing increased cost of living issues, the Northern Corridor Economic Region is on the right track with its “Empowering the Rakyat” initiative that has raised the living standards of 67,935 residents in 30 districts in Perak, Perlis, Kedah and Penang.
The number includes 4,400 Orang Asli who participated in some of the programmes under the initiative, which serves to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and stimulate economic development in Orang Asli community areas.
Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) CEO Mohamad Haris Kader Sultan told theSun that Perak has the highest number of Orang Asli communities in the northern region, so it came up with a pilot programme to empower them.
“One of the success stories among the Orang Asli community is the Lata Kinjang Forest Eco-Park, where we helped to revive the area to become a tourist attraction by giving a facelift to facilities that were not well maintained. This was all done during the pandemic.
“We then identified hidden skills among the Orang Asli there, such as cooking and sewing, and guided them to generate income. We even established a cooperative for them to manage and ensure sustainable incomes in the long run,” Mohamad Haris said.
Apart from the cooperative and talent identification, NCIA also familiarised the community with digital payment and marketing strategies to boost sales among local entrepreneurs at Lata Kinjang.
The programmes were carried out in collaboration with the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) and designed to be replicated among Orang Asli communities elsewhere.
The Lata Kinjang Forest Eco-Park was reopened at the end of July and as of September, the cooperative had generated revenue of RM262,272 and attracted 21,140 local and international visitors.
Mohamad Haris credited the success to NCIA’s approach based on a three-pronged strategy that consisted of planning, investment and human capital.
“What makes our programmes stand out from others is that we put a lot of effort into identifying the best strategies to implement them in a different area, community and economy. Only then do we start attracting investors to our projects.
“Once the project has garnered enough funding, we proceed with profiling people in the community based on their talents and skills. We equip them with knowledge and a platform to help them climb the socio-economic ladder.”
He said apart from the Orang Asli community, NCIA also prioritises the development of entrepreneurial skills among women and youth.
“In our entrepreneurial programme, we collaborated with CIMB, Maybank, Affin Bank and Agrobank. We set a specific quota, especially for women entrepreneurs and youth, to get a loan from the financial institutions, of which we pay 50% of the interest rate.”
On future programmes, Mohamad Haris said the organisation was looking to strengthen the agriculture sector in the northern region by introducing a “Smart Agriculture” concept, that refers to farming with technology such as drones, automated hardware and robotics to attract more youth.
“Food security is part of our agenda as well, and we will come up with an initiative to promote the development and cultivation of paddy fields that allow residents in green states such as Perak, Perlis and Kedah to become self-sufficient when it comes to the supply of rice,” he added.