CRADLE LOOKING TO FUND 100 PROJECTS BY NEXT MAY

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, manager of the Cradle
Investment Programme (CIP) for the Ministry of Finance, is looking to finance
100 projects by May next year, focusing on solutions for tourism industry.
Its chief executive officer, Nazrin Hassan, said the company has funded 369
projects worth RM30 million since its inception in 2003.
"The ministry has allocated RM100 million for the programme," he told
reporters at the Standard On-line Tourism (SOTA) International Conference 2009
here today.
Over 300 technopreneurs attended the conference.
The event also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between
Cradle and Creative Advances Technology Sdn Bhd (CAT), a leader in technology
for tourism sector, to launch the CAT-CRADLE-SOTA Technopreneur Development
collaboration.
Meanwhile, CAT chief executive officer, Rohizan Md Yusoff, said the
collaboration was to boost tourism industry in the country.
He said on-line transactions for the industry globally had reached US$200
billion (US$1=RM3.54)
Tourism is the second largest income earner for the country, with tourist
arrivals of 22.05 million in 2008 and tourism receipts amounting to RM48
billion. --- BERNAMA
WNA THS