20 minutes
KUALA LUMPUR: Cooperatives in the country successfully generated RM45.7 billion in earnings as at Dec 31, 2019, said Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac), Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (pix).
He said the average income growth of the cooperative sector showed a rise of 3.97 percent yearly from 2014 until 2019.
“The contribution of the cooperative sector to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) currently is only between 3.0 percent and 4.0 percent.
“Although it does seem rather low compared to the sector’s contribution of 19 percent in Thailand and 26 percent in Vietnam, cooperatives still have room to grow significantly and improve in terms of value,” he told the Dewan Rakyat here today.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin (BN-Rompin) in regard to the contribution by cooperatives to the country’s GDP.
“The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic had adversely impacted many cooperative activities and operations.
“A study on the impact of the Covid outbreak on cooperative businesses by the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia and the Medac post-Covid entrepreneur survey found that the operational performance of cooperative businesses had declined by 32 percent, which contributed to the decline in cooperative income by up to 33.9 percent,” he said.
Wan Junaidi said following the implementation of the Recovery Movement Control Order (PKPP), only 39 percent of the cooperatives were still operating while 17 percent had stagnated.
He said more than 42 percent of the cooperatives suffered financial liquidity problems due to lack of working capital, particularly those involved in tourism and healthcare. — Bernama
