Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah (Yayasan) received an award at the ASEAN Inclusive Business Awards (ASEAN IB) at Lao Plaza Hotel, Laos, taking into account the assistance and donations of Yayasan through the self-reliance programme.
The programme has helped the underprivileged and low-income families to start a business by providing them with skills and monitored capital assistance until they are independent and help other families new to business. The ongoing assistance chain in the programme meets the ASEAN IB evaluation criteria and has attracted the attention of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME).
Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Defence II Pehin Datu Lailaraja Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Haji Awang Halbi bin Haji Mohd Yussof, who is also the Chairman of the Yayasan Board of Directors, accepted the award on behalf of Yayasan.
The ASEAN IB award has been introduced at the ASEAN Level since 2017 for a greater emphasis on creating an enabling environment for inclusive business (IB).
The ACCMSME has taken the lead in promoting IB in ASEAN in 2018 by providing capacity building and technical assistance, business capital to encourage the development of small entrepreneurs to integrate into the regional and global value chain.
ASEAN IB is to highlight the procedures that are practiced in helping the underprivileged and low-income groups to become self-reliant and independent through small businesses and enterprises.
Yayasan has received an invitation from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) in their capacity as the focal point and main representative for the Sultanate to the ACCMSME to submit an application for the ASEAN IB held for the seventh year. Permanent Secretary (Planning, Land Use and Environment) at the Ministry of Development Dr Nor Imtihan binti Haji Abdul Razak, as Acting Managing Director of Yayasan were also present.
Presenting the ASEAN IB award on behalf of the ASEAN Secretariat to the recipients was Minister in the Prime Minister’S Office of Laos Sonexay Sithphaxay.
The two-day 7th ASEAN IB Forum was also attended by two Yayasan officials – Acting Assistant Managing Director Sufinah binti Haji Sulaiman and Mohammad Ali Rahman bin Besir, who shared the Implementation Procedures for the Self-Reliance Programme through Yayasan Entrepreneurship Assistance Project which has been introduced since 2015 together with representatives from other ASEAN countries. – Azlan Othman
