KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Cooperatives in the country successfully generated RM45.7 billion in earnings as at December 31, 2019, said Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac), Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

He said the average income growth of the cooperative sector showed a rise of 3.97 per cent yearly from 2014 until 2019.

"The contribution of the cooperative sector to Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP) currently is only between 3.0 per cent and 4.0 per cent.

"Although it does seem rather low compared to the sector’s contribution of 19 per cent in Thailand and 26 per cent in Vietnam, cooperatives still have room to grow significantly and improve in terms of value,” he told the Dewan Rakyat here today.

He was responding to Datuk Seri Hasan Arifin (BN-Rompin) in regard to the contribution by cooperatives to the country’s GDP.

"The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic had adversely impacted many cooperative activities and operations.

"A study on the impact of the Covid outbreak on cooperative businesses by the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia and the Medac post-Covid entrepreneur survey found that the operational performance of cooperative businesses had declined by 32 per cent, which contributed to the decline in cooperative income by up to 33.9 per cent,” he said.

Wan Junaidi said following the implementation of the recovery movement control order (RMCO), only 39 per cent of the cooperatives were still operating while 17 per cent had stagnated.

He said more than 42 per cent of the cooperatives suffered financial liquidity problems due to lack of working capital, particularly those involved in tourism and healthcare. — Bernama