Registration of cooperatives nearly doubled last year, an encouraging sign, says Ewon

TELUPID: The number of cooperatives registered in the country is very encouraging, with the number almost doubling last year, said the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister

Datuk Ewon Benedick said a total of 1,001 cooperatives were registered last year compared to the average of 600 new cooperatives registered annually previously, thus showing that the country’s economy is on the right track.

“This nearly two-fold increase is also due to the ministry’s efforts, through the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM), in implementing programmes to popularise cooperatives nationwide,” he told reporters after meeting National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) on Friday (Jan 5).

Meanwhile, Ewon said the two initiatives to be launched by his ministry this year are the Tourism Cooperative Stimulus Package and the Tamu Desa Project.

“I am very confident we can generate interest among the people regarding cooperatives, especially those involving tourism activities, with the additional initiatives that will be implemented this year.

“In addition, we will also start building rural stalls under the Tamu Desa project, for which RM20mil has been allocated under Budget 2024 specifically for Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

When commenting on his visit, Ewon said Tekun Nasional succeeded in helping 819 entrepreneurs in Telupid, involving overall funding of RM18.73mil from January 2002 until last month.

Of the 819 entrepreneurs, 249 received funding totalling RM12.61mil from April to December 2023.

“This is a big amount and I am very confident it has helped further improve the economy of the entrepreneurs and further boost economic activities in this district,” he said.

He said that he received various proposals during this visit, among them being the need for more staff at the Telupid Tekun Office to further expedite entrepreneur-related matters.

“I was told that there will be additional staff next month, and I hope that this (additional staff) will lead to entrepreneurs in this district getting improved services,” he said, adding that the Telupid Tekun Office only has a manager and an assistant officer. – BK