KUCHING: A Wawasan India Kuching Berhad Cooperative (Koperasi Wawasan India Kuching Berhad) has been established in an effort to boost the socio-economic status of the Indian community in Sarawak.
The cooperative, registered on Nov 10 last year, is the first Indian community-owned cooperative set up in the state.
Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Senator Saraswathy Kandasami said the new cooperative will focus on plantation business/agro-based industry; contract procurement works; mini market/traditional Indian barber shop; secondary tuition centre; and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) skills institutions.
“I hope the cooperative will continue to progress and be competitive in line with other cooperatives throughout the country in providing the best contribution to the cooperative movement,” she said.
She said this during the Cooperative Programme with the Indian Community at Indian Association Kuching (IAK) Hall here on Sunday (Mar 26).
Saraswathy also said that based on nationwide statistics, a total of 291 Indian cooperatives have been registered until 2022 with a total membership of more than 2,400,000 members with an accumulated share capital of RM518.9 million and an asset value of RM1.530 billion.
“The revenue contribution of the Indian cooperative movement at the national level is also encouraging with a total of RM145.94 million.
“This shows that the socio-economics of the Indian community at the national level has been successfully implemented through the cooperative platform,” she said.
She added in Sarawak, there was still no contribution by Indian cooperatives because there was no Indian cooperative until now.
“However, with the existence of Wawasan India Kuching Berhad Cooperative, I hope it will lead to economic growth among the members,” she said.
On a related matter, she said Sarawak is the most aggressive state in helping the cooperative movement gain access to financing to improve business performance.
“In 2022 alone, MCC Sarawak Branch has helped the state’s cooperative movement with the distribution of RM16.36 million involving the financing of the MCC”s Revolving Capital Fund (TMP-SKM).
“And RM3.251 million for Development Assistance Grants, making the total amount of grants and funding approved in 2022 amounting to RM19.61 million,” she said.
Saraswathy said she was confident that cooperatives are an effective approach to stimulate entrepreneurial development especially for the Indian community.
“The concept of a cooperative is based on the principles of inclusivity and by creating profits through joint ownership activities which is appropriate to be applied in the current economic situation,” she said.
