Kuala Lumpur: ASEAN member states have been urged to incorporate cooperatives into their respective national development policies to ensure better alignment of cooperative-related strategies across the region.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA) president Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah emphasized the significance of this initiative for positioning cooperatives as a regional economic force on par with other sectors. Currently, cooperatives are perceived as a marginal sector, involving only certain groups and have yet to develop into a larger movement compared to other economic sectors, as he noted during Bernama TV’s Dari Kuala Lumpur ke Dunia programme aired tonight.

Abdul Fattah highlighted that not all ASEAN member states have acknowledged cooperatives in their national policies, leading to gaps in direction and regional economic participation. He called for a more inclusive approach from ASEAN to allow cooperatives to actively contribute to regional policy formulation, in line with their extensive membership base. At the ASEAN level, the cooperative movement comprises over 300,000 cooperatives with nearly 66 million members, yet it has not received due recognition within the regional economic administration structure.

He urged collaboration and exploration of business opportunities from various regions to compete globally, warning that failure to do so could result in being left behind. As President of the ASEAN Cooperative Organisation, Abdul Fattah further mentioned that the proposal would continue to be raised with ASEAN leaders through the ASEAN Cooperative Dialogue 2025 resolution to ensure cooperatives are no longer sidelined in the region’s economic development ecosystem.

The upcoming 46th ASEAN Summit, which will include the Senior Officials’ Meeting on May 23, the ministerial-level meeting on May 25, and the Heads of Government meeting beginning on May 26, presents a crucial opportunity to address these issues.