TAWAU, May 9 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development (KUSKOP) will organise the ASEAN Cooperative Dialogue next Tuesday and Wednesday, aimed at strengthening the role and collaboration among regional cooperative bodies.
Its minister, Datuk Ewon Benedick, said in conjunction with Malaysia's role as the 2025 ASEAN Chairman, the dialogue will be hosted by Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA) in the federal capital, with a focus on promoting regional economic development.
"Our national cooperative body and the cooperative bodies of ASEAN (member countries) will gather, and there we will look at and examine the development of cooperatives in this region.
"We want to encourage cooperatives in the country to not only grow domestically, but also to collaborate with cooperatives abroad, not only at the ASEAN level but also on the world stage," he told reporters today.
Ewon was met after visiting the exhibition and sales booths at the Sabah MADANI Rakyat (PMR) 2025 Program, being held for three days starting today, at the Tawau Municipal Council Square here
According to Ewon, he is scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the event this Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as the ministry responsible for the development of the cooperative movement, Ewon expressed his desire to see more local cooperatives participate in international expositions.
Starting last year, we brought several cooperatives together with other medium-sized enterprises to participate in foreign expos, including in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is important for their development and exposure to the world stage," he said.
ANGKASA President Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah was previously reported to have said that the government had allocated RM1 million to ANGKASA as the chairman of the ASEAN Cooperative Union (ACO) to make the ASEAN Cooperative Dialogue session a success.
For the record, the cooperative sector in Malaysia contributed RM64.5 billion to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023, equivalent to three per cent of the country's total GDP
-- BERNAMA
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