Minister Armizan Mohd Ali said the government wanted to strengthen and expand strategic cooperation with existing retailers under the Rahmah Madani Sales programme.

“This includes supermarkets, shopping centres and retail shops,” he said in his winding-up speech on the 13th Malaysia Plan debate in the Dewan Rakyat.

“We also considered their concerns that these special shops, if established, would affect the businesses of existing retail outlets.”

He was responding to Andi Muhammad Suryady Bandy (BN-Kalabakan), who had suggested reviving “kedai rakyat” and rebranding them as “kedai Madani” to offer affordable and uniform prices nationwide.

Armizan said the ministry is offering opportunities for retail shops, supermarkets and shopping centres that wish to participate in the Rahmah Madani Sales programme.

However, he said two factors must be considered: accessibility to the public and whether these shops can sustainably offer a broad range of products.

“Besides that, the decision not to implement ‘kedai rakyat’ at this time is also based on past experience with similar initiatives, such as KR1M, which involved high operating costs like rent, logistics and continuous maintenance.

“The government also faced perceptions of unfairness regarding competition between kedai rakyat and existing retailers,” he said.