Sabah to collaborate with Shopee for youth entrepreneurship programme

Sabah Youth and Sports minister Ginger Phoong (left) and Assistant Sabah Finance Minister Kenny Chua (right) witnessing the signing ceremony between Shopee Malaysia Seller Management Head Zed Li (second left) and Pos Malaysia Berhad Corporate Planning and Transformation group head Azahar Ariff (second right) during Shopee's launching for its Sabah Edition S-Mart in Kota Kinabalu. -NSTP/Olivia Miwil

By Olivia Miwil - February 11, 2020 @ 4:47pm

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah government will collaborate with e-commerce company Shopee to provide training for young budding entrepreneurs, said State Youth and Sports Minister Ginger Phoong.

Phoong also pointed out that the collaboration would shore up the ministry’s Youth Entrepreneurship Aspiration Programme, in which each eligible participant was entitled to a startup grant worth RM2,000.

He said e-commerce could be the main platform for young business-savvy Sabahan youths.

“We are aware that the grant is insufficient for a startup. That is why the ministry is also giving assistance and skill training such as through collaborations with Shopee University for entrepreneurship courses,” Phoong said here during the launching of Shopee’s Sabah dedicated online store, the S-Mart Sabah.

Present were Assistant Minister of State Finance Ministry Kenny Chua, Shopee Seller Management head Zed Li and Pos Malaysia Berhad Corporate Planning and Transformation group head Azahar Ariff.

At the same time, Li said Sabah housed great potential for e-commerce businesses as Shopee is hosting about 7,000 sellers from the state to date.

“Sabah is a huge producing state. It is a challenge for us to overcome and help to provide a second source income for the people of Sabah.”

Earlier, Li said the S-Mart would collaborate with leading brands and retailers, as well as third party logistics partner Pos Laju to meet the needs of Sabahans.

In celebrating the launch of S-Mart, Sabahans would enjoy free shipping with a minimum spend of RM20 instead of RM40 from now until Feb 29.

For more information, visit S-Mart Sabah at http://shopee.com.my/s_martsabah.fbs