By Agil Faisal Ahmad Fadzil

Last month, I was placed in the dubious category of “17,000 political appointees” and the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) asked me to resign from my position as panel chairman of the Young Entrepreneurs of SME Corp.

My role was to spearhead programmes to facilitate youth entrepreneurship. Several government agencies were prompted to copy these programmes.

One of my proudest achievements was the establishment of Tunas Usahawan Bumiputera, a year-long mentoring programme for more than 5,000 entrepreneurs.

I regard myself as a patriotic Malaysian who wants to see my country grow and my fellow citizens prosper, and I’m supportive of the government.

Our new government must champion the causes, efforts and rights of the brave entrepreneurs of Malaysia who face challenges, obstacles and headaches every single day. Our consumer goods are being dwarfed and sidelined by imported products.

Government-linked companies (GLCs) should not be competing with local enterprises. They should act only as investors in local enterprises.

The new entrepreneur development ministry must have supervisory power over all government-related offline and online marketing channels. All vendor programmes should come under its supervision. There must be more programmes for strategic industries or categories. A detailed plan of action for systematic growth must be created and implemented.

For too long, many entrepreneurs have created products, programmes, projects and services with the hope striking it rich by selling to the government.

Now that we have a government focused on reform, there’s need for a mindset change. Entrepreneur businesses must function as commercial entities, as viable enterprises, as companies focusing on taking their goods not just to the government, but to the market. They need to stop seeing the government as their ideal source of income.

We need to develop an ecosystem that allows for creativity and professionalism so that our goods and services can be marketable locally and internationally.

The mantra of “Economi Satukan Kita” is very much in line with the philosophy of the PH government. The ideals articulated by the CEP are what Malaysia needs today. We’ve needed them for years.

Like the CEP, I’m wholly committed to assisting and guiding the business community and raising the prestige and status of Malaysia to where we should be.

Here’s what I would like to tell the council: don’t look only at GLCs, projects, activities, policies and programmes. It should also work towards improving SMEs and entrepreneurship because these are the lifeblood of the Malaysian economy. Collectively, SMEs and entrepreneurs make up the largest group of employers. They are the drivers of creativity and innovation and the biggest contributors to our economy.

Let’s improve entrepreneurial skills and let’s have a proper support system for SMEs. Let’s focus on expanding new markets locally and internationally.

Let’s prove to ourselves and to the rest of the world that the entrepreneurs and businesses of our nation can play an important role in the marketplace, that we’re not behind the times.

By focusing on upgrading, teaching and implementing world-class business skills, we can abandon the idea of “pulling cables” and rely solely on our merits.

I will continue with my efforts to open new markets and guide the 7,000 members of Generasi Muda Berjaya to this goal. I owe this to them for the trust they have placed in me since 2012.

Agil Faisal Ahmad Fadzil is president of Generasi Muda Berjaya and managing director of Infinity Channel and MBO Outlet.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.