Thirty-three final-year students doing their bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) here are on their way to becoming telecommunication entrepreneurs when they were chosen as pioneers in the UUM-PUNB-Celcom entrepreneurship course.

The six-month course, a first involving local universities, is a joint effort between UUM, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) and Celcom.

Celcom (northern region) vice-president Saiful Bahrin Abdul Ghaffar said under the programme, the students would be placed at key Celcom dealers in Penang, Perak, Kedah and Perlis where they would be trained to set up their own telecommunication-related businesses after they gra-duate.

"During the course, the students will receive training in leadership, marketing, management and business planning.

"They will be trained to set up their own businesses with loans provided by PUNB.

"By next year, Celcom and PUNB will offer similar courses at other local universities," he said at the launch of the course at UUM's Entrepreneur Development Centre here yesterday.

Present were Celcom corporate communications vice-president Datuk Najmuddin Abdullah and UUM Business and Entrepreneurship Faculty dean Associate Professor Dr Kamil Md Idris.

PUNB Investment Division general manager Dzulkifli Fadzilah said telecommunication-related businesses were among the ventures pursued by graduates.

He said PUNB had provided RM2.2 million in loans to 49 graduates to set up their businesses in telecommunications.

For details of the course, contact PUNB at 03-27851477 or visit www.punb.com.my.