Cooperative movement can help eradicate poverty, says minister

KUALA LUMPUR: Cooperative movement can play a vital role in the government’s efforts to eradicate poverty in the country, says Datuk Ewon Benedick.

Apart from offering goods at a lower price and training their members to engage in business, the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister said cooperatives could also generate returns in the form of dividends.

"I’m confident that the cooperative movement is one of the many approaches which can help eradicate poverty,” he told reporters after launching COOPMart Koperasi Lembah Subang 2 (LS2) Selangor Berhad at the Lembah Subang 2 People’s Housing Programme (PPR) here today (April 15).

Earlier in his speech, Ewon said the COOPMart owned by Koperasi LS2 Selangor Berhad and established with the ministry’s support through the Cooperatives Commission of Malaysia (SKM) and the Local Government Development Ministry, was a government initiative to reduce the cost of living.

He said the ministry, through SKM, had allocated RM360,000 to Koperasi LS2 Selangor Berhad to partly finance COOPMart’s development costs.

Therefore, he urged residents of LS2 PPR to join the COOPMart in order to make it a part of the retail and wholesale federation in the country.

In conjunction with today’s event, the Rahmah sales and Madani Ramadan sales programmes offering goods at a 30% discount were also held. - Bernama