KUCHING: The Sarawak 'Women Entrepreneurs Dashboard (WED)' is targeted for completion and operational launch in early 2027 to establish a more comprehensive, systematic, and accurate database of women entrepreneurs in Sarawak.

Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Sarawak Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah said that the initiative was developed to strengthen the economic empowerment of Sarawakians by aggregating data on women entrepreneurs guided by the Sarawak Women and Family Department (JWKS) and the Sarawak Social Welfare Department (JKMS).

According to her, as of September 2026, a total of 3,901 out of 5,266 entrepreneurs mentored by JWKS between 2018 and 2026 have been registered into the M-BEST system under the Ministry of International Trade, Industry and Investment Sarawak (MINTRED), accounting for approximately 74 percent.

“The physical installation of WED at Wisma Wanita is targeted for completion by mid-December in terms of its physical component setup.

“Insya-Allah, it will commence operations in early 2027. This is our target for WED Sarawak to be fully completed and operational,” she said.

She said this while speaking at the 2026 Welfare Micro-Entrepreneurs Award Ceremony officiated by Sarawak Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan at the Metrocity Event Centre here on Sunday.

Dato Sri Fatimah added that WED Sarawak will serve as an instrument enabling monitoring and evaluation to be conducted in a more structured, systematic, and accurate manner through the utilisation of current data.

She explained that this initiative is crucial as it will not only provide a database, but will also function as a key tool allowing authority bodies to conduct monitoring and assessment.

She noted that the collected data will offer a clearer picture of entrepreneur profiles, including business types, age, monthly income, and challenges faced.

She stated that such information will assist the government in executing interventions and delivering necessary support systems through various government initiatives in a faster and more precise manner.

“We want to ensure that our entrepreneurs in Sarawak, particularly among women, can progress and elevate their household incomes in line with the aspirations of the Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030.

“This is so that as our people's income increases, especially household income, they can cross the poverty line and achieve our targeted income level, ensuring Sarawak becomes a developed state by 2030 through the contributions of these entrepreneurs,” she added.

Also present were Deputy Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Sarawak Datuk Dr. Mohamad Razi Sitam, MINTRED Advisor Dato Sri Naroden Majais, and Director of JKMS Semawi Mohamad. — UKASnews

Prepared by: Ahmad Daniel Faiz
Translator: Ryan Lim