Relocation of cooperatives made easier with Act 502 amendments - Wan Junaidi

ALOR GAJAH: Cooperatives are no longer required to obtain approval from the Cooperative Commission of Malaysia (SKM) prior to moving to a new location or when opening a new branch, following amendments to the Cooperatives Societies Act 1993 which came into effect early this month.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said through the amendments, cooperatives were only required to notify SKM of their new locations.

"It will make it easier for cooperatives to move to a new location without having to obtain approval from SKM as required previously," he told reporters at the opening ceremony of SKM Masjid Tanah branch office here, today.

Also present were Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and state Agriculture, Agro-Based, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Committee chairman Datuk Norhizam Hassan Baktee.

Wan Junaidi said the amendment of the Act, which was passed in Parliament last December, also allow the setting up of a cooperative with a membership of at least 20 people compared to 50 previously, while only five members were needed to set up a professional cooperative.

"For normal cooperatives, at least 25 people are needed to sign the meeting minutes previously but now only 10 people are required to sign the document, and two people for professional cooperatives.

"The is to ease the setting up of a cooperative thus increasing the number of cooperatives in the effort to produce more entrepreneurs," he said.

Earlier, Wan Junaindi presented SKM's Development Assistance Fund and Revolving Capital Fund totalling RM1.2 million to 11 cooperatives in Melaka.

The ministry also provided fundings to 15 SME Corp entrepreneurs under the Bumiputera Enterprise Enhancement Programme (BEEP) and Bumiputera Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (TUBE), and 10 TEKUN Nasional entrepreneurs under the Informal Financing Scheme, worth RM1.2 million and RM50,000, respectively.

-- BERNAMA