By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Nov 26: Sarawak has registered 1,190 cooperatives involving 313,917 members, generating RM368.97 million in revenue.
As of December 2023, Malaysia as a whole recorded 315,809 cooperatives with 7.2 million members and a collective revenue of RM64.6 billion.
Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan underscored the significant potential of cooperatives to drive local socio-economic development.
However, he acknowledged that micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including cooperatives, face hurdles in achieving growth and competitiveness.
“According to a survey by SME Corporation Malaysia, the main challenges include high operating costs, limited adoption of sustainable business practices, weak linkages with larger firms, and slow digitalisation,” he said in a media release.
He added that both the federal and Sarawak governments are committed to addressing these challenges by focusing on entrepreneurial development, including support for cooperatives.
Awang Tengah, represented by the advisor to the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, and Investment (Mintred) Dato Sri Mohd Naroden Majais, shared these insights during the Economic Challenges: Sustainable Opportunities for Cooperative Businesses seminar held at a local hotel here today.
To tackle these challenges, the Sarawak government continues to roll out comprehensive support initiatives, both financial and non-financial, aimed at fostering local business growth.
“We will sustain programmes like the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme (SKMS), Small and Medium Loan Scheme (SPIKS), Graduates Towards Entrepreneurship (GERAK), Technical and Vocational Entrepreneurs (USTEV), and Digital Entrepreneurship Programmes such as Go Digital,” Awang Tengah explained.
The Ministry is also collaborating with TikTok Shop through the Sarawak Digital Mall initiative and offering entrepreneurial training and product promotion programmes.
“Since 2021, RM193 million in financial assistance has been approved, benefitting 8,900 entrepreneurs. Additionally, over 30,000 entrepreneurs have received non-financial support to strengthen their businesses through capacity-building and product promotion efforts,” he said.
Agencies such as SME Bank and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia have further supported more than 177,000 Sarawak entrepreneurs with funding worth RM2.6 billion.
Awang Tengah expressed hope that cooperatives in Sarawak would evolve into competitive and sustainable institutions, capable of generating higher incomes and significantly contributing to national economic growth.
He emphasised that collaboration between the Federal and Sarawak governments, particularly through initiatives like the seminar, would continue to be strengthened to ensure impactful contributions to local socio-economic development. — DayakDaily
