KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Government Employees Cooperative Society Bhd (Kopeks) is on par with public companies when it comes to giving dividends to members, according to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Yahya Hussin.
He said Kopeks has been giving dividends since 2008 and for 2009, the Malaysian Cooperative Commission has approved seven percent dividend or five percent of shares and two percent on fees and cash payment.
“The return on investment (ROI) of over 5 percent of shares is better than the return from fixed deposit given by commercial banks.
“The seven percent dividend is equivalent to many public limited companies listed on Bursa Malaysia,” he said in a speech delivered by Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Bobbey Ahfang Suan.
Kopeks is wholly owned by Sabah civil servants and has membership of 10,000.
“The Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia informed me that Kopeks is the largest cooperative in term of fees collected amounting RM33 mil of the total RM38 mil.
“In financial year 2010, Kopeks has assets worth RM103 million, making it the largest asset contributor in Sabah.”
Yahya is confident that Kopeks will become a major contributor to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and catalyst for change.
This is line with the National Cooperative Policy launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to achieve developed nation status with per capita income of USD$15,000 by 2020.