KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (MEDAC) has instructed its agency Bank Rakyat to provide a special fund to assist agriculture-based cooperatives and companies.
Its minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said these cooperatives and companies play a vital role and should be prioritised to help facilitate the agrofood chain.
“Under MEDAC, there are many cooperatives involved in the agriculture sector. For example, in poultry farming, we have 15 cooperatives that produce 42 million chickens annually.
“So we wish to help in increasing the number from 42 million chickens to 52 million. We want to see contract farming. This is in line with the policy set by the Malaysia Cooperative Societies Commission on having a federation that plays a role for the respective sectors, including the agrofood sector,” he told the media after officiating at Bank Rakyat’s annual general meeting here today.
He said MEDAC is committed towards fulfilling Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s goal of overcoming issues related to the agriculture sector.
Under Budget 2022, the government upsized the Agrofood Facility by RM500 million to further promote the production of agrofood by the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Meanwhile, in a statement, Noh said the national cooperative movement has spanned a period of 100 years.
“Over the century, cooperatives have shown an enviable evolution by participating in various economic sectors through members from all walks of life.
“The struggle of the cooperatives such as Bank Rakyat remains relevant, as their success enhances members’ prosperity through involvement in economic and entrepreneurial activities.
“At the same time, the movement is very important for mobilising the micro SME sector and create ‘Keluarga Usahawan’ (Family of Entrepreneurs),” he said.
Islamic cooperative bank Bank Rakyat is among the biggest contributors to financial service cooperative sector’s revenue at RM26.8 billion, or more than 70 per cent of the cooperative sector’s total turnover.
Bank Rakyat chairman Datuk Abdul Rani Lebai Jaafar noted that Bank Rakyat, established in September 1954, is about to enter the 68th year of its formation.
“To ensure it remains relevant in the upcoming years, Bank Rakyat has drafted the Bank Rakyat 2025 strategic plan (BR25), which is currently being implemented. In 2021, all 46 programmes that were scheduled was successfully realised as planned,” he said.
For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, Bank Rakyat recorded a profit before tax and zakat of RM1.63 billion and a net profit of RM1.86 billion.
