KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) will soon establish a university of cooperatives and entrepreneurship to provide a new line-up of professionals to handle cooperatives management in the country.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said MEDAC was currently in the process of preparing a working paper before holding further discussions with relevant parties including the Ministry of Higher Education.

“This institute will act as a platform to produce a new generation of cooperative movement leaders who are knowledgeable, have business and entrepreneurial skills. It is expected to open by the end of this year, and premises have already been identified in Cyberjaya,” he said at a media conference after the launch of the Malaysian Cooperative Transformation Plan (TransKoM) here yesterday.

Wan Junaidi said the proposed university would be placed under the Cooperative Institute of Malaysia (IKM) however it would not interfere with IKM’s function as the only cooperatives training centre in the country.

TransKoM was officiated by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The setting up of the university was part of the ministry’s strategies to transform and strengthen the cooperatives movement in the country that has more than 6.1 million members through TransKoM, he said adding that he was confident that the country’s cooperatives movement would be able to achieve great success at the regional as well as international level with the help of the new generation of cooperatives professionals.

TransKoM outlines five goals namely the achievement of goals based on common well-being and prosperity; a constructive and facilitative legal and regulatory system; productive and knowledgeable human capital; new business models based on technology and knowledge; and evidence-based planning and innovative delivery and monitoring systems.

He said overall, 20 strategic measures, 36 programmes and activities as well as 30 Key Performance Index (KPI) were set under five thrusts with the implementation of the transformation in three phases beginning this year until 2025.

-- BERNAMA