KOTA KINABALU: About nine percent of the co-operatives in the country are in Sabah but the state still has a lot of catching up to do before its co-operative sector is on par with that in the other states in the country.
Sabah needs to help improve the income of the co-operatives, which are mostly still categorized under the micro cluster.
As of the end of last year, there were a total of 8,146 co-operatives in the country with 728 of them registered in Sabah, but despite the relatively large numbers, Sabah co-operatives generated only RM222 million in revenues, or about 2.3 percent of the revenues generated by co-operatives in the whole country.
Out of the state’s 728 co-operatives in Sabah, only six were considered as big players with a total recorded revenue of RM136 million.
Over 70 co-operatives were under the small and medium cluster category and they generated a combined turnover of nearly RM70 million. The majority of the co-operatives, or 648, were under the micro cluster category with a total of RM14 million in revenues.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Yahya Hussin, when speaking at the Co-operative Commission of Malaysia’s briefing on Co-operative Management Regulations and Guidelines here, said the contribution of the co-operative sector in Sabah to the nation’s economy is still very small.
Although Sabah’s co-operative sector has grown significantly over the years, it cannot be denied that there are still a lot of aspects which have to be improved, Yahya said.
Towards strengthening the sector, he said there should be more efforts to encourage co-operatives to participate in high-income activities.
Yahya noted that through the newly launched National Co-operative Policy (NCP), the Co-operative Commission of Malaysia has identified five main high-income sectors that can be exploited by co-operatives, namely retail, finance, tourism, plantation and agriculture.
“These main sectors could significantly increase co-operatives’ revenue. In addition there are also new activities co-operatives can venture into, such as doing business with Bank Rakyat where they can become the bank’s service representatives or carry out Ar-Rahnu activities. Co-operative can also venture into health care like spa,” he said.
“The government through the Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Ministry and CCM would continue to provide assistance and guidance to help co-operatives improve their businesses,” he said.
Yahya, who is also Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, said the co-operative sector in Sabah has shown improvement in several aspects, including annual turnover.
He noted the revenue recorded last year represents an increase of about four percent from the RM231 in 2009.
He said there was also an increase of 15 percent in the number of co-operatives registered last year, which saw the total number of members climbing about 17 percent from 197,000 to 231,000.
Yahya said a number of co-operatives in Sabah have also displayed exemplary performance in certain sectors, such as the Keningau District Council Co-operative Berhad and Koperasi Pelancongan Mukim Batu Puteh Kinabatangan Berhad.
Both co-operatives, he said, have been recognized as role models and have been invited to share their experiences and success stories with other co-operatives across the country.
The co-operative sector has been identified to be developed into a major earner in the country, with the government aiming to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) to five percent in 2013 and 10 percent by year 2020.
Presently, it contributes less than one percent to the country’s GDP.