Govt supports cooperatives – Musa
TAWAU: Cooperative is a form of business that gives benefits and value to its members and it needs to be brave in going into the downstream industry to produce products that have added value in order to give more opportunities to its members, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman.
To this end, Musa assured that the state government always supports cooperative developments while also providing opportunities for cooperatives to get involved in business.
He said the state government is also committed to help the federal government in supporting the development of cooperatives through competent and quality human capital development.
Musa said this when opening the state-level National Cooperative Day organised by the Malaysia Cooperative Commission (MCC) yesterday at the Tawau Municipal Field.
In his speech, he pointed out that the commitment of the state government has been proven through the construction of a training complex known as Pusat Latihan Kecermelangan Koperasi (PULAKOP) in Kinarut, Papar which was developed on a 15-acre land provided by the government.
The training centre has trained more than 13,000 cooperative members and MCC officers in various fields in cooperative management since 2003, Musa noted.
Meanwhile, in facing the challenging economic environment, the cooperative movement could become an important instrument in forming a more proactive and competitive community in daily life, the Chief Minister said.
Therefore, he stressed that efforts towards empowering cooperative movement is vital in order to support socio-economic growth and ensure fair economic distribution through strategic planning.
Musa said he is sure that with cooperation in sharing of technology, expertise and available sources, cooperatives will be more steady, strong and competitive, and provide greater contribution towards the people’s socio-economic development, especially in Sabah.
To make the goal a success, he said the perception of some community members who see cooperatives as an activity of personal spending or credit needs to be changed as the community needs to be given more exposure on the cooperatives’ important role in community socio-economic development through business and employment opportunities.
Thus, he said efforts to cultivate cooperative awareness needs to be stepped up in order for the cooperative movement in the state to gain members of higher calibre and potential in creating high impact economy activity in cooperatives.