Co-ops urged to capitalise on tourist arrivals
KUCHING: Cooperatives in Sarawak are encouraged to capitalise on the high number of tourists visiting the state.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said this prior to the official launch of Koperkasa Place2Stay Hotel at Jalan Upland here yesterday.
“According to the Ministry of Tourism Sarawak, the state recorded 4,151,231 visitors as at November 2016 while for 2015, the figure was 4,517,170.
“This high number of tourists brings opportunities for more cooperatives to venture in the budget hotel business,” said Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development.
His text of speech was read by Assistant Minister of Entrepreneur and Small, Medium Enterprise ( SME) Development Datuk Mohd Naroden Majais.
“The tourism sector has been identified as one of the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) to
According to the Ministry of Tourism Sarawak, the state recorded 4,151,231 visitors as at November 2016 while for 2015, the figure was 4,517,170. This high number of tourists brings opportunities for more cooperatives to venture in the budget hotel business.
accelerate Malaysian economy.
“The effort is also line with the government aspiration through the ‘ Tourism Transformation Plan’ to attract 36 million tourists into the country, generating RM168 million for Malaysia by 2020,” said Awang Tengah, who cited International Cooperative Alliance ( ICA)’s report ‘ World Co- Operative 2016’ which said that the turnover of the top 300 cooperatives is worth US$ 2,533 billion, while the ‘Cooperative and Employment: A Global Report’ states that all cooperatives in the world are able to provide 250 million job opportunities.
“With that, it is proven that cooperatives remain one of the best business modules out there to solve economic, social and environmental issues,” he said.
Meanwhile Koperasi Koperkasa Sarawak Bhd ( Koperkasa) chairman Sajali @ Ismail Ojek said the launch of Koperkasa Place2stay Hotel is a step forward for the cooperative to venture into the tourism sector.
The 36-room flagship hotel is part of Koperkasa’s transformation blueprint.
Sajali also announced the signing of memorandum of understanding ( MOU) between Koperkasa and Koperasi Permodalan Melayu Negeri Johor Bhd.
The MOU is aimed for the two cooperatives working together to improve the tourism sector in both states.
Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Deputy Chief Minister
The ceremony was also attended by state Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia (SKM) director Osman Ismail, WLF Global Ventures Sdn Bhd group executive chairman Dr Wang Yin Siang and Koperasi Permodalan Melayu Negeri Johor Bhd secretary Rabeah Shaikh Mohamad.