KUALA TERENGGANU, The Community Skills Development Programme (PPKK), initiated by the Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation (Kraftangan Malaysia) has successfully produced 99 craft entrepreneurs in Terengganu.
Terengganu Kraftangan Malaysia director Md Azrul Hussein said it involved eight types of craft products including sal leaf weaving, batik blocks, mengkuang weaving, batik stitching and forest products.
He said apart from these, a total of 14 master craftsman or ‘adiguru’ in the fields of textile, metal and forest products from the state have been appointed to contribute their expertise and share their skills with the community in an effort to improve socioeconomic standards through craft production.
“PPKK was established in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic which affected many people’s jobs and sources of income,’ he said when contacted..
“Due to this, Kraftangan Malaysia took the initiative to involve the community comprising housewives, asnaf and young people directly with craft compani
es to generate main or side incomes.”
Md Azrul said Kraftangan Malaysia’s Terengganu branch is this year targeting an increase in the number of craft entrepreneurs with the organisation of two PPKK programmes.
One of the programmes is sal leaf weaving which has a potential and is in high demand, but faces problems due to a shortage of artisans.
“Apart from this, we will also implement the block batik programme which has a high demand. There will be two phases for each programme, with an allocation for one course ranging from RM9,000 to RM10,000.
“In addition to courses and training, we also help in terms of promotions by taking craft entrepreneurs to entrepreneurial expositions or carnivals to market their products,” he added.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
