Get involved in growth corridors

Get involved in growth corridors

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government wants co-operatives to get involved in the country’s new growth corridors.

They should not be left out in these corridors, whether they are developed in Peninsular Malaysia or in Sabah and Sarawak, said Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Prime Minister said this in a speech read out by Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin at the launch of the National Cooperatives Day at the Putra World Trade Centre here yesterday.

Khaled also launched, on Abdullah’s behalf, four products to strengthen the country’s cooperative sector. They are:

·AMANAH Saham Mara for cooperatives, where cooperatives are recommended to invest in the Mara trust fund for better returns and lower risks;

·UDA cooperatives development scheme, which enables the Urban Development Authority to develop land belonging to the cooperatives in urban areas;

·BANK Rakyat representatives service, which allows the cooperatives to become agents to promote and sell the bank’s products and services and;

·A cooperatives administrative guidebook, which provides useful tips on effective management of cooperatives.

Abdullah said the Government had also upgraded the Cooperative Development Department to become the Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia, to ensure a more stable and systematic development of the cooperatives movement.

He advised cooperative leaders to not only look at cooperatives as a place to solve social problems or to increase its welfare but also as a venue to provide significant jobs.

“The cooperatives should continue to develop in order to keep up with changes and be competitive and innovative,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference later, Khaled said his ministry was paying serious attention to the development corridors.

He added that his ministry wanted to ensure that local entrepreneurs and cooperatives would be involved and benefit from the development corridors, such as the Iskandar Development Region and the Northern Corridor Economic Region.