KOTA BELUD: Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick is encouraging communities in Sabah to develop tourism and agriculture potential in their areas through cooperatives.
He said his ministry, through the Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia, has prepared special allocations for cooperatives in tourism, and so far 48 cooperatives are involved in that sector in Sabah with a total collected revenue of RM8.3 million.
“I believe this can be improved as Sabah and our country have various tourism products and there is vast potential to be developed.
So I encourage communities in the state to consider setting up cooperatives as platforms to develop such potential,” he said in a statement after launching the Sabah level Jejak Koperasi programme in Kiau here today.
The Kadamaian assemblyman said that this programme has a special incentive for cooperatives involved in tourism activities.
“This is the ministry’s contribution to the Visit Malaysia Year 2025. I hope that cooperatives are able to prepare tourism products comparable to other operators,” Ewon said, adding that he wanted communities to make the most of the opportunities provided by the government.
“We will continue to promote the initiative and would like to see more cooperatives involved in the agriculture sector as well as it contributes to national food security,” he said.
