By Mustakim Ramli
SHAH ALAM, Sept 20 — Some 100 entrepreneurs from the Selangor Indian Empowerment and Entrepreneurs Development (i-SEED) programme will participate in the i-SEED Deepavali Carnival, which will take place at Dataran Majlis Perbandaran Klang from October 7 to October 9.
State executive councillor for socio-economic development V Ganabatirau said the carnival would bring together all of the entrepreneurs who have received equipment aid from the state government since last year.
“The carnival runs from 10am until 10pm and offers a variety of products for sale, such as food, clothing, and others.
“There will also be booths from other state government agencies such as KoHijrah, the Selangor Indian Entrepreneur Development (Sitham) and many more,” he said at a press conference at the Ideal Convention Centre (IDCC), here yesterday.
Ganabatirau said that the programme aims to attract 3,000 participants per day.
He said Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari is slated to launch the event and that various cultural performances is also featured to take place.
“Aside from that, we will also organise lucky draws that offer exciting prizes including motorcycles, television and many more,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ganabatirau said that as of to date, a total of 417 entrepreneurs have received business equipment aid through i-SEED, involving an annual funding of RM1 million.
Out of the total, he said that 211 entrepreneurs received assistance this year while the remaining 216 received it last year.
“The number of recipients for this year will keep rising as we will direct the aid to those in need. For instance, if the recipient is a tailor, we would offer a sewing machine.
“Although we approved the assistance, the head villages will validate it to make sure it is transparent,” he said.
i-SEED, which was launched on April 7 last year, is intended to improve the economic position of the Indian community by providing grants for the equipment support that their businesses require.
