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Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, said the success of the program had also raised the economy of youths from the lowest 40 per cent household income group (B40) to the extent that some of them had become entrepreneurs with high income.
"What I hear is that this program is certainly appropriate because it brings new hope to make significant changes to the youths. TUBE has transformed the group to the extent that they are generating lucrative income... Insyallah (God willing)," he said.
He disclosed this in his speech at the gathering with about 1,000 participants in the TUBE Appreciation Session at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) here today.
The TUBE program, which is implemented by SME Corp Malaysia and launched by Najib on March 29, 2014, had succeeded in giving a positive impact with 99 per cent of the 448 people participating in TUBE 1.0 having started their business with an accumulated annual sale value in 2015 touching RM17.8 million.
TUBE entrepreneurs have so far created 848 job opportunities while the TUBE 2.0 program which began last November had been participated by 495 youths.
Earlier, Najib spent time to listen to the experiences and successes of three participants who had followed the program.
Najib said he was impressed that there was a participant who was merely a 'mat rempit' with a bleak future who had turned into an entrepreneur with strong potentials.
"TUBE must begin with a strong conviction that anything that is easily obtained may not be highly appreciated. That's why TUBE participants must go through a bootcamp for a week and a workshop for two weeks before being given a grant of RM15,000.
"But do remember that all this may not be achieved without contribution from the Government," said Najib, who also gave an assurance that the allocation would be increased if the national economy improved.
Meanwhile, Mohd Zairul, 22, a graduate of Alternative Islamic Medicine from Al Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt told Bernama that the program had opened his mind on the ins and outs of business.
"Without guidance from officials from SME Corp. Malaysia through the TUBE program, it might have been difficult for me to start my own business even though I have the certificate and skill," said the entrepreneur from Pahang who started his business immediately after undergoing the three-week TUBE program since last November.
He said his spa business in Kuantan only catered for male clients and planned to open up a branch in Perak.
-- BERNAMA
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