KOTA KINABALU, July 28 — Efforts must be intensified to encourage more youth to be involved in cooperative movements in the country, said Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk Ewon Benedick.

He said cooperatives are one of the best platforms to strengthen cooperation among youth in entrepreneurship and cooperatives.

He said that, as of last December, over 15,000 cooperatives registered in Malaysia but only 207 of them had the involvement of youth, with a membership of 99,954 people and an income of RM26.60 million.

"Based on statistics, there is still a lot of room for improvement to increase the involvement of youth in cooperatives.

"This will need the cooperation of all parties, especially between the government and the youth as well as the involvement of the private sector and non-governmental organisations (NGOs),” he said in a statement in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit here today.

Sabah has been chosen for the first time to host the three-day summit, which began today and is attended by 186 participants from 19 countries.

"I hope the selection of Sabah as the host will spur the interest of the youth, especially those in the state, to be involved in cooperative movements to generate national income,” he said. — Bernama