THE Penang government today launched the ‘Penang2030 Coop Grant’ by allocating a grant of RM300,000 to assist cooperative societies registered under the Malaysia Cooperative Commission (SKM) Penang branch.
Deputy Chief Minister I Datuk Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman said this is the first time the state government has given a grant to SKM Penang as it is aware of the challenges faced by the cooperative societies during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“During this time, they lack business capital which has caused cooperative members to decrease as well as a lack of participation from young people and professionals,” Ahmad Zakiyuddin, who is also in charge of the state’s Islamic Affairs, Community Empowerment and Cooperatives portfolio, said at the launching ceremony at Komtar today.
“This grant is in line with the Penang2030 vision as the state aims for ‘A Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation’.
“The cooperation between the state government and the SKM Penang in organising various programmes will continue to strengthen the cooperative agenda in the state.
“We hope with the launch of the grant, it can improve the people’s economy through the cooperative movement.”
The maximum grant for a successful applicant is RM15,000 or RM10,000, depending on the types of the cooperative’s project.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin said other criteria for the grant application include that the cooperative society must be registered in Penang, does not have arrears and must have its annual general meeting.
The scope of the grant also includes infrastructure development, machinery and revolving capital.
Ahmad Zakiyuddin said applications for the grant would be processed by a selection committee comprising members from his office, SKM Penang and the state Economic Planning Division under the Penang State Secretariat (BPEN).
Also present at the launching ceremony were SKM Penang director Zakaria Mat Jusoh, BPEN secretary Muhamad Husni Mahmud and BPEN principal assistant secretary Nazrulizam Kamaruddin.
Zakaria said SKM Penang currently has 746 cooperative societies with 172,000 members and a total income of RM162.6 million for last year.
“This is a drop of 56 percent compared to the annual income of RM289 million achieved by the Penang cooperative societies in 2019,” Zakaria said, adding that 30 percent of the cooperative societies are inactive or dormant.
He said to help raise the membership, SKM Penang has formed a cooperative, named Koperasi Rakyat Pulau Pinang Berhad, with the aim of targeting 30 percent of the 1.8 million residents in Penang to become members in two years’ time.
If this is successful, the membership would total 500,000.
Zakaria said SKM Penang has also provided an e biz coop mart platform that could be visited through https://pgmall.my/coop-Retail to enable cooperatives to market their products online to meet domestic and foreign demand and increase the cooperatives’ total income.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad