PM Anwar Officiates First MADANI Mart Retail Outlet

KUANTAN, April 3 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today officiated the first MADANI Mart retail outlet in the country at Indera Mahkota 8 (IM8) here, as a government initiative to help ease the cost of living.

Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, spent about 10 minutes visiting the outlet, accompanied by Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Datuk Dr Fuziah Salleh.

Also present were Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail and the Prime Minister’s political secretary, Datuk Ahmad Farhan Fauzi.

The MADANI Mart initiative, led by Yayasan MADANI, adopts a community retail concept offering daily necessities at affordable prices and accessible locations, with the slogan “Kedai Runcit Harga Rahmah.”

Meanwhile, Fuziah told reporters that MADANI Mart represented a significant strategic approach in addressing cost-of-living challenges in a more comprehensive and targeted manner.

She said the initiative did not involve direct government capital expenditure but was driven through a strategic collaboration model involving the public sector through the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), operators or license holders (private), and Yayasan MADANI (social).

“In the previous model, the government provided capital and paid for renovations, stock purchases…for MADANI Mart, the government does not incur any capital outlay,” she said when asked about the difference between MADANI Mart and Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M).

She added that the business model also created opportunities for local communities and entrepreneurs to participate.

MADANI Mart aims to open at least 640 outlets nationwide, with a target to ensure that each state constituency (DUN) has at least one outlet.

-- BERNAMA