KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — The Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission (SKM) has provided an allocation of RM1 million for the implementation of the Madani Cooperative Sales for this year to promote and encourage the public to shop at the cooperative retail stores known as Coopmart.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said the Madani Cooperative Sales offer prices of daily necessities up to 20 per cent lower than local market prices.

“Until December 31, 2022, a total of 104 Coopmarts have been involved in the Madani Cooperative Sales which has benefited 527,447 people with a total price saving of over RM5.7 million,” he said.

He said this when winding up the debate on the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023 before it was passed by the Dewan Rakyat today after it was debated by 14 Members of Parliament from the government and the opposition.

Meanwhile, he said that to date, 2,581 Coopmarts are operating nationwide with 38 of them having been upgraded as distribution centres that recorded a total turnover of RM1.25 billion last year.

He said that his ministry, through SKM, is also committed to continuing to strengthen the involvement of cooperatives in the wholesale and retail sector as an effort to assist the government in dealing with the issue of the rising cost of living and ensuring a continuous food supply.

Ewon said that there are 15,315 registered cooperatives with a total membership of 7.3 million people until last December 31 involving a total turnover of RM45.5 billion.

He said 10 of the cooperatives were listed in Malaysia’s Best Cooperatives Index, while the number of inactive cooperatives was 1,659 which did not carry out any activities for three consecutive years but still held an annual general meeting or had their accounts audited during that period.

The Malaysian Societies Cooperative Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023 which was approved, among other things, divides the power between the chairman and the chief executive officer of SKM, to strengthen the commission’s governance.

The amendment also made the position of chairman and chief executive officer of SKM held and executed by two different individuals, in addition to the composition of SKM’s board of directors also being improved. — Bernama