Addressing the 10th Asia-Pacific Co-operative Ministers’ Conference in Hanoi the Vietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said the alliance should forge ahead with regional integration and trade and investment collaboration for the sake of all the people of the region.
Ministers’ Conference is being hosted by the ICA-AP, together with the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA), and the Government of Vietnam from April 18-21, 2017 in Hanoi.
Cooperative leaders from several countries stressed that the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations are achievable only through a partnership between Governments and Co-operatives.
Several cooperative leaders from India led by NCUI President Dr Chandra Pal Singh are participating in the event. More than 100 international delegates from 21 countries are sharing their experiences.
Vice President of Vietnam said the enhancement of economic cooperation and designing of collaboration programmes between member cooperative federations, including Vietnam, is a vivid demonstration of the growing cooperative economy, says a Vietanami news outlet.
She also listed a number of challenges in implementing the targets set by the 12th Regional Assembly. Cooperatives are considered one of the important partners to help the ICA-AP realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, she underlined.
The Vice President urged the ICA-AP to give priority to structural reforms to step up cooperation and improve operational efficiency of cooperatives, as well as stimulate renovation and close development gaps.
It was also decided on Wednesday that the 13th Asia Pacific Regional Assembly will be held in Tehran. In a tweet of ICA A-P it said “ICA AP signs MoU w Iran Chamber of Coops @ #APCMC 2 organize d 13th AP regional assembly in Tehran ’18.”
The 9th APCMC was held in Bangkok, Thailand in 2012, hosted by the government of Thailand and attended by 14 Cooperative Ministers and 300 delegates including government representatives, international delegates and ICA members from 21 countries.
