Sundry goods wholesale co-op to be established in Sabah
SANDAKAN, Jan 30 (Bernama) -- The Sabah branch of the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia wants to establish sundry goods wholesale cooperatives in every parliamentary constituency in the state.
There are 25 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah.
State Director Saiful Bahri Omar said the cooperatives, to be created under the commission's wholesale and retailing programme, would serve as sundry goods wholesaler to cooperatives engaged in retail business.
Since the programme was started in 2009, three wholesale cooperatives have been set up in the Kota Kinabalu, Keningau and Tawau parliamentary constituencies, supplying goods to 70% cooperatives operating sundry shops, he said.
"The programme is a "success story" as cooperative members and the local community, especially people living in rural areas, have benefited by getting sundry goods at cheap prices, he told Bernama.
Saiful Bahri said the programme was among the commission's initiatives to help cooperatives in the state to make profit and facilitate cooperative members and local residents to buy household essential items at reasonable prices.
He said there are 844 cooperatives in Sabah engaged in diverse businesses, with 300,000-odd members.
The cooperatives total assets are worth RM430 million, with share and fee value at RM70 million, and RM293 million in business returns, he said.
"This shows the cooperative movement in Sabah has undergone a drastic transformation," he said.
Many of the cooperatives are engaged in giving personal loans, developing land for agriculture projects and running sundry shops.
On inactive cooperatives, Saiful Bahri said seven cooperatives were dissolved last year as they were dormant and their members could not be traced.
He said a cooperative would be dissolved only after the commission's attempts to help salvage or redeem problematic cooperatives failed.
The commission encouraged cooperatives in Sabah to benefit from the RM30,000 grant and collateral-free loans of up to RM50,000, he said.
"Cooperatives can borrow up to RM10 million if they can furnish collaterals, he added.
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