LABUAN, Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Bumiputera entrepreneurs have been told to take up whatever financial facilities provided by various government agencies and government-linked financial institutions, and do not just wait for such opportunities to appear in front of their eyes.

President of the Labuan chapter of the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia Yussof Mohammad said records showed that the percentage of Bumiputera entrepreneurs who applied and succeeded in obtaining financial facilities were still below the encouraging line.

He said Bumiputera entrepreneurs should intensify efforts to ensure the government incentives were utilised.

"The billions of ringgit budgeted to create competitive entrepreneurs will come to waste if the entrepreneurs take the wait-and-see attitude.

"The entrepreneurs should discard this syndrome if they want to compete on a level playing field with others," he said when opening a seminar for women Malay entrepreneurs here Tuesday.

About 120 people from small and medium industries and the tourism and service sectors took part in the one-day seminar. Among the speakers were officers from the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority and SME Bank.

-- BERNAMA