Closing the Socio-Economic Gap: The Role of Social Enterprises in Kedah

Abstract

Kedah is one of the Peninsular Malaysia states with a high poverty rate. Existing gaps in regional, state, and rural-urban development continue to exist. Hence, several endeavours have been undertaken to address this socioeconomic disparity, including promoting the establishment of social enterprises. This concept was derived from the Kedah Book 2035, specifically its Core 3: Social and Cultural Inclusion, whose purpose is to strengthen the poverty eradication program and reduce the socio-economic disparity among the population. With a particular focus on the Urban Poverty Eradication Programme Empowerment Initiative for the B40 Group, the primary aim of this research is to highlight the role of social entrepreneurship in addressing the challenge of a higher poverty rate in Kedah. Additionally, this study seeks to examine the challenges and prospective opportunities that pertain to social enterprises within the state of Kedah. In the present study, the research methodologies include using secondary data sources, including journals and articles acquired from online databases. In summary, social enterprises have the potential to mitigate the issue of poverty in Kedah, Malaysia. However, previous evidence suggests that social enterprises encounter many challenges that impede their growth. Therefore, the state government should implement additional actions to guarantee the efficacy of social enterprises in eliminating poverty.