SEMPORNA: The national cooperative movement has developed rapidly due to the close collaboration between the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development (Kuskop) with various agencies including the Malaysian Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM), the Malaysian Cooperative Institute (IKMa) and Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA).
Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick (pix) said the cooperative movement had also achieved various successes over the past 10 years, such as venturing into various economic sectors and increasing the share capital and fees to RM17 billion.
“The cooperative movement also managed to generate assets amounting to RM161 billion and revenue reached RM40 billion,“ he said in a statement after an engagement session with cooperative members of the Semporna district in conjunction with the Cooperative Trail Tour at Koperasi Kurnia Berhad here, today.
He said the success was also contributed by the cooperatives in Sabah, the state with the second highest number of cooperatives in Malaysia with 1,765 cooperatives including 72 cooperatives involving 16,379 members in Semporna.
“KUSKOP through SKM and IKMa will continue efforts to provide financial assistance and training to cooperatives,“ he said, adding that as of June 30, the number of cooperatives in Malaysia had increased to 15,556 cooperatives with 7.3 million members.
Meanwhile, he said based on feedback received at the engagement session today, SKM would open a new Semporna branch office this year to make it easier for residents there to deal with and get information about cooperatives. –Bernama
