Entrepreneur Development Ministry wants Sabah to provide for cooperative development in state budget, says Ewon Benedick

KOTA KINABALU, July 22 — The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (Kuskop) has called on the Sabah government to provide for cooperative development initiatives in its annual budget allocations to further strengthen the sector in the state.

Its minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said this would then be able to supplement Kuskop’s efforts through the Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia (SKM) in assisting Sabah’s cooperative movement.

He said several state governments, including Melaka, Pahang and Johor, have taken the approach of providing cooperative development initiatives and allocations in their state budgets.

“The state governments have made budget allocations for cooperative development to assist their cooperatives in addition to the budget initiatives provided by the ministry via SKM,” he told reporters after attending the National Cooperative Day launching ceremony here today.

Officiated by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, the National Cooperative Day is being held over three days ending July 23 to give exposure to the public on activities carried out by cooperatives nationwide.

Ewon said he also saw the need to form a cooperative movement coordination committee in Sabah comprised of, among others, agencies involved in cooperative development to facilitate the channeling of the ministry’s budget incentives.

This is important to ensure the cooperative sector in Sabah can enjoy and take full advantage of the incentives and allocations, he added.

Ewon said Kuskop also wants to work together with the Sabah government in presenting awards in various categories to recognise the achievements of the state’s best cooperatives next year.

“This is an effort to promote the cooperative movement among Sabahans. Sabah today has 1,707 cooperatives and many of them have certainly been successful,” he said, noting that four cooperatives in Sabah were listed in the 100 Best Malaysian Cooperatives Index last year.

Meanwhile, Ewon said that for the first time, Sabah has been selected to host the Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit, to be held from July 27-30, 2023.

“So far, we have secured more than 180 participants from 19 countries in Asia-Pacific,” he said, adding that he hopes such a programme will be able to stimulate economic and entrepreneurial activities in Sabah. — Bernama