In Malaysia, stringent restrictions were enforced under the Movement Control Order (MCO) implemented by the Government to curtail the spread of the pandemic. The global lockdown disrupted the supply of many essential items, including much needed sanitizers, face masks and other medical supplies. Given this bleak backdrop, KOPNAWEM strived to ensure members and their families were protected. There was a severe shortage of sanitizers and packing materials due to the lock down in China. On the 15th of Feb 2020, KOPNAWEM started selling our first batch of hand sanitisers to members. Items were ready for collection by the 17th of February so that the much need sanitizers could be distributed rapidly to friends and family. On the 21st of February, a second batch of 1000 50ml hand sanitisers were sold and later we launched 500ml hand sanitisers for office and home use. When the demand for face masks increased, KOPNAWEM started selling 3-ply masks for member on the 6th of March 2020. The first batch ordered by KOPNAWEM sold out almost immediately. Due to the high demand, a second batch was successfully ordered on 9th of March for those who missed out on the first batch. However, due to shipment hiccups, fulfilment of orders was somewhat delayed. A multipurpose sanitizer was introduced on the 13th of March to be used to sanitise surfaces.

The KOPNAWEM office remained open for members to collect their order before the complete lockdown while some orders were delivered to members via Grab, adapting to the new normal. Faced with an evolving market and rapidly changing consumer demands, we are strengthening our online presence to allow us to capture the shift of consumers into the e-commerce business. On the 26th of August, board members participated in a brainstorming session to strategize our plans for 2022 and 2023. We invited members who have existing e- commerce businesses to offer their advice and guidance. Our e-commerce business strategy will be centred on the following:

Focus on five categories of products: ready to eat items; sanitizing and cleaning solutions;

adult diapers, sanitary pads and panty liners; healthy snacks; and health supplements.

Products that offer a unique value proposition and where KOPNAWEM is a sole or preferred supplier.

KOPNAWEM will not hold any stock and work on drop shipping agreements with suppliers.

Create our own brand name of products that are suitable for online sales.

We are currently in discussions with suppliers of selected products. To date, KOPNAWEM has been successful in obtaining a 100% subsidized SiteGiant Lite package for 1 year through the Belanjawan 2021 Go-eCommerce Onboarding Campaign. We have purchased a domain and have also registered with payment gateway provider, SenangPay.

Our next strategic initiative is to focus on training services. KOPNAWEM is officially registered with HRD Corp and Perkeso as a training provider. We will be venturing into train and place programs that will not only generate income for members but also help the country in addressing the unemployment problem.

I want to thank all of my fellow board members for their hard work and dedication. And on behalf of board, I would also like to thank all of you who have been helping us and others in the country in countless ways to get through the challenges thrown at us. Moving forward, we will build a much more resilient co-operative business.

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