Money has been set aside, but not enough cooperatives are applying for it. That was the problem raised in Alor Setar this week, alongside a fresh round of assistance for Kedah cooperatives.
According to Bernama’s 22 October report, Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Mohamad Alamin urged the Co-operative Societies Commission of Malaysia, or SKM, to make applications easier and offer more guidance at grassroots level.
The assistance he referred to includes business development grants and revolving capital financing. Those are different types of support, so an available fund should not automatically be read as free cash for every applicant.
RM1.9 million for 15 cooperatives
At the Kedah cooperative appreciation event, RM1.9 million in business development assistance was presented to 15 cooperatives. Another cooperative received RM200,000 in revolving capital financing.
The minister also pointed to support for agriculture and food security activities. His wider message was that cooperatives need viable business plans, rather than thinking only about members’ welfare and the next annual dividend.
For members, that raises a useful question: what will a funded project actually earn or improve? A larger allocation sounds encouraging, but the value depends on what the cooperative does with it.
Easier paperwork still needs a workable project
A call to cut bureaucracy is not itself an approval letter or a new application deadline. This report does not announce one universal grant that every cooperative can claim.
For a committee considering expansion, the sensible next conversation with SKM is specific: which scheme fits the proposed activity, what documents are needed, and whether support is a grant or financing that must be repaid.
Members can also ask their committee to explain expected costs, customers and responsibilities before committing to a venture. Making funding easier to reach and making a business worth funding are two tasks that need to move together.
Sources & further reading
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