BUTTERWORTH: Over three million people are expected to benefit from Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd’s (Angkasa) move to upgrade 3,000 of its micro cooperatives (co-ops) outlets to medium co-ops under the Basic Items Programme (BA100).
Angkasa’s president, Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah said its move to upgrade micro co-ops to the retail and wholesale segment is part of efforts to offer more affordably priced items to the people, especially to those from the low-income group (B40).
“Under BA100, we are targeting for 3,000 co-op outlets to offer products at prices which are competitive and 5% cheaper than market prices,” he told reporters after a briefing on the business opportunities and launch of the Co-Op Station, here today.
Abdul Fattah said the nation’s retail and wholesale industry was valued at more than RM100 billion last year, but the co-ops’ participation is still small compared to the industry’s potential.
According to him, the upgrades are being done in stages, adding that the move is part of Angkasa’s efforts to improve the retail marketing structure which involves too many middlemen, resulting in high retail prices due to the gap between suppliers, manufacturers and consumers.
“By using the e-commerce digital system, we will be able to minimise the role of middlemen, and the retail stores can place group orders through Angkasa,” he said.
Abdul Fattah said to-date, 10 major product suppliers have registered with Angkasa to offer their services to co-op outlets.
“We definitely encourage suppliers to provide their services to co-ops, provided that they transport the products directly from the factories to the stores without going through the middlemen to ensure that the prices remain low,” he added. - Bernama
