PENANG Domestic and International Trade, Consumer Affairs and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain has urged co-operative societies to embrace digital technology to reach out to the masses.
“Business model has now changed,” Abdul Halim said during the opening of a cooperative digital marketing workshop for 50 participants at Cititel today.
“If we don’t engage with the digital transformation or get involved, we’ll surely be left behind. We must also have a big heart, not only just look at the Penang or local market but also the global market.”
Also present at the opening ceremony were the Malaysia Co-operative Societies Commission (SKM) Penang director Zakaria Mat Jusoh and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) trainer Norazlina Najmudin.
Abdul Halim said there are 715 co-operative societies in the state with a total of 233,591 members, a total share capital of RM643 million, with total asset amounting to RM3.9 billion and a total turnover of RM1.2 billion.
“Penang has a population of 1.7 million and that means, we have only about 15% who are members of cooperatives. This could be due to a lack of awareness,” he said.
With technology shifting towards Industry 4.0, Abdul Halim said one element in Industry 4.0 is customisation, unlike the mass production that happened in Industry 2.0. By that, he said customers can make their orders from home and the manufacturers will specifically produce the items according to their specifications.
Zakaria, in his speech, expressed hope that the co-operatives’ turnover could improve by 10% every year. He also encouraged the participants to apply what they had learnt.
“We will follow up on their progress. We plan to hold an advanced workshop for them,” Zakaria said.
Penang Hindu Co-operative secretary J. Punitha and board member D. Batmini, who were among the participants, gave their thumbs up to the course.
“We learn how to promote our business and find customers through social media,” said Punitha. “We find it beneficial.”
Story and photos by K.H. Ong