Kuala lumpur: Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (ANGKASA) president Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah was unanimously re-elected as president of the ASEAN Co-operative Organisation (ACO) for the 2026-2030 term. The election took place during the ACO annual general meeting (AGM) held yesterday, marking a continuation of Malaysia's leadership in the regional cooperative organisation, a position he has held since 2014.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Abdul Fattah stated that the unanimous re-election signifies the confidence of ASEAN member countries in Malaysia's leadership to bolster the regional cooperative movement and to enhance people-based economic cooperation on an international scale. He emphasized the role of ACO as a pivotal platform for fortifying the people's economy in ASEAN through strategic cooperative alliances, especially in food security, halal, community tourism, digitalisation, and green energy sectors.
Abdul Fattah expressed that the new mandate aims to enhance the Cooperative-to-Cooperative (C2C) trade network within ASEAN and broaden market opportunities for Malaysian cooperative products and services on a global stage. Established on December 6, 1977, ACO was formed through a joint declaration by the apex cooperative bodies of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore to bolster economic cooperation and the development of the cooperative movement in the ASEAN region.
Currently, ACO includes all 10 ASEAN member states, encompassing a total of 347,599 cooperatives and more than 66.6 million members across the region. The statement highlights that the ASEAN cooperative movement contributes approximately five per cent to ASEAN's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), equivalent to USD195 billion, while generating over 11 million job opportunities across various economic sectors.
Abdul Fattah also mentioned ACO's commitment to empowering youth cooperatives, women's cooperatives, school cooperatives, and community cooperatives as essential drivers for ASEAN's sustainable development in the future. This year's ACO AGM gathered cooperative leaders from Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, and Timor-Leste to deliberate on economic empowerment, regional cooperative trade development, and future strategic cooperation agendas.