PETALING JAYA (April 1): The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is inviting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to take part in the Budget 2023 engagement process.

“The MoF will soon start its Budget 2023 engagement process and I welcome proposals from NGOs such as PSC [Protect and Save the Children] and CCF [Compassionate Care Foundation] on how best to empower civil society organisations, so that we can all do our part to create a better society,” said Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said during the Healing & Empowering Lives Dinner held on Friday (April 1) at the One World Hotel. 

The charities CCF and PSC have teamed up to host the Healing & Empowering Lives Dinner on Friday, to raise funds to restore health to the underprivileged and financially challenged individuals and advocate for victims of child sexual abuse. 

The funds raised through the dinner are expected to provide treatment for at least 150 underprivileged people with chronic pain and other health problems. 

According to Tengku Zafrul, the MoF has begun a whole range of reform initiatives to pave way for sustainable socioeconomic progress. These include various ways in which the government and NGOs can work better together in the future. 

Under Budget 2022, the MoF has allocated a RM100 million matching grant to NGOs for programmes such as capacity building and addressing mental health issues through awareness programmes, as well as after school education and online teaching. 

“The MoF is also open to receiving proposals on allocations meant for other purposes for Budget 2023,” said Tengku Zafrul. 

Furthermore, there is a CSR-related coordinated platform called GDRN via the Government Linked Investment Companies (GLIC) and Government-Linked Companies (GLCs), noted the minister. 

“This aligns GLCs or GLICs existing social impact contribution in three key areas which are education, sustainable livelihood and well being, and human humanitarian response”. 

“I would like to urge NGOs such as PSC and CCF to also reach out to GDRN, which is jointly managed by Yayasan Hasanah and Yayasan TM to see how we can work together on promoting specific causes,” said Tengku Zafrul.

He added that children and the underprivileged were the most vulnerable groups in the communities and the Covid-19 pandemic in the last two years had worsened their situation. 

“Therefore, I urge all of you present here tonight, representing your organisations, to generously support NGOs like CCF and PSC. Because a nation’s economic progress is pointless if our vulnerable children are not cared for and protected,” said Tengku Zafrul.