The Youth And Malaysian 2018 Budget

Young people are social actors of change and progress. They are a crucial segment of a nation's development. In general, it is seen that all citizens have to be included in building or developing a nation. Thus, the involvement of youth in national development is a must because they play one of the most important roles in nation building. According to recent report on population in Malaysia, the working population nearly captured more than 60% of overall population. The concern on youth as the agent of economic booster is applied and shown in how big the literacy rate of that nation. The overall youth literacy rate is 98.42%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.
Several initiatives by the government have been laid out in the proposed 2018 budget in accordance with the youth assessment. These are designed to aid people, especially the young generation of Malaysia in generating income. Few examples are:
1) eRezeki, eUsahawan dan eLadang programme (RM100m)
2) Easy loans for Food Truck 1Malaysia (FT1M) through Bank Rakyat with interest rate of 2% (RM120m)
3) 1AZAM Programme to increase revenue (RM60m)
4) Construction of new UTC, Blue Ocean Entrepreneur Township, Mobile CTC, Entrepreneurship programme, Global Entrepreneurship Community as well as inclusive and vibrant Social Entrepreneurs (RM300) as part of National Blue Ocean Shift (NBOS) initiative
5) Various Bumiputera entrepreneurship enhancement programmes (i.e., PUNB Entrepreneurship and Business Premise Programme (RM200m))
These programs basically directed the young generation to take more part in the real sector of economy. The youth especially in today's generation has advantage of the being literate in utilization of technology and this is helpful to boost the economic excellence in innovation of new products that can compete with the rest of the world.

Youth Entrepreneurship initiatives: Youth Entrepreneurship initiatives offered by the government include RM100 million for the eRezeki, eUsahawan and eLadang under the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). All of these government Programmes, such as eRezeki, eUsahawan and eLadang, encourages youths to venture into entrepreneurship if they can't find a stable employment. These initiatives will kickstart businesses created by the youths." For example, the eRezeki programme provide training in using digital technology to develop businesses and also working part-time to gain additional income.