Carnival of cooperatives
THE Malaysian Carnival of Cooperatives' Products and Services (Maccops 2017) returns with a bigger bang for its third time starting tomorrow at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre.
The five day event will host 162 exhibitors including 20 international cooperatives from India, China and Iran.
The event is organised in conjunction with the Global Conference and General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance 2017 (ICAKL 2017) which Malaysia is hosting for the first time.
ICAKL 2017 welcomes more than 1,500 delegations from 98 countries from Nov 14 to 17. Themed "Embrace the Difference", the carnival focuses on eight major economic sectors that highlight the specialised products and services of the Malaysian market.
Among the products and services that will be showcased by the local cooperatives include food and beverages, healthcare, property, agriculture, tourism, finance as well information technology.
Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd (Angkasa) president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah said the carnival acts as a platform for the people to interact and communicate not only with their local business cooperatives and entrepreneurs but also foreign ones.
"This year's carnival is a bit different as we have invited international cooperatives to participate. They are from India, China and Iran.
"With international participation, we hope our local cooperatives could focus on transforming their businesses to the international level, expand their outlooks and reach for higher target.
"The carnival also aims to promote and create a cooperative-to-cooperative network as well as host various seminars, product demonstrations, business matching and product launches," he said.
Angkasa, he said, estimates a total of RM200 million or USD$50 million of future business transaction to come from this exhibition.
Fattah said there will also be a "100 Champion Products" programme held during the carnival whereby Angkasa would assist in developing the chosen product to enter a bigger market and achieve global recognition.
He said the chosen products, which fulfills specified requirements, will not only get to work with experts from Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim) but also packaging and labelling experts to ensure it is of international standards.
"Angkasa hopes this carnival will create more business relationships between the local and international cooperatives and also widen our cooperative networks," he said.
Maccops 2017 is open to the public from 10am to 10pm from Nov 15 to 19. Visitors who register for the lucky draw stand to win laptops, mobile phones and a motorcycle, while the grand prize winner will be bringing home a Proton Iriz.