THE Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) has introduced a Public-Private Research Network (PPRN) initiative to promote demand-based innovation programmes with the aim to drive up entrepreneurial productivity.

Its minister Noraini Ahmad said through this initiative, MOHE will provide grants to institutes of higher learning to encourage the academics to reach out to the community, thus helping to produce innovations that can increase productivity in companies.

“I am confident with the available expertise, we will be able to help entrepreneurs, especially women, to be successful in business,” she said in her speech at the launch of the Empowering Women Entrepreneurs @ Batu Pahat programme in Johor Baru today.

She said MOHE is indeed focusing on development programmes for entrepreneurs in the form of smart knowledge sharing, entrepreneurship education, research and innovation.

As such, she urged entrepreneurs to reach out to universities to help raise the productivity of their enterprises and resolve issues that arise.

Noraini said university researchers can also apply for MOHE grants to assist entrepreneurs.

According to her, the number of women-owned businesses account for 20.6% or 186,855 of the total number of small and medium enterprises nationwide.

She added that women-owned businesses have significantly contributed RM69.1 billion to the gross domestic product, besides generating over 786,132 job opportunities with earnings of up to RM11.1 billion. – Bernama, February 20, 2022.