Mr Hamid Kalantari, Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Labour & Social Welfare of the Islamic Republic of Iran, along with a 10 member delegation comprising of senior Officers of the Ministry, Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, Cooperative Development Bank, Members of selected Cooperative Societies and representatives of Iran Embassy New Delhi visited NCUI on Thursday, 21st January 2016.
Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, MP and President, NCUI accompanied by the Vice-Presidents of NCUI welcomed the Minister and members of delegation. Senior officers of NCUI & NCCT also interacted with the Iranian delegation.
Welcoming the Minister and other distinguished delegates Dr Chandra Pal Singh Yadav lauded the role of Indian cooperative movement and said the cooperative institutions like IFFCO, KRIBHCO, AMUL have made a mark with their extraordinary achievements.
He also briefed the visiting delegation on the role being played by NCUI in strengthening the cooperative movement through training & education. Dr Yadav also invited the personnel working in the field of cooperatives in Iran to participate in various training & Management development programmes organized by NCUI through training units NCCT & NCCE.
He also invited the Minister to participate in the forthcoming ICA – AP Regional Assembly scheduled in November at New Delhi.
Citing the vibrant relationship between India and Iran, Mr Kalantari felt that the role of the cooperative movement in India is not only relevant in the Asia Pacific Region but also at global level. He expressed his eagerness to understand the working of credit cooperatives and wanted to replicate the model in Iran.
The visiting Minister informed that there are around 100 thousand cooperatives in Iran having 5 million members of which 26% are agricultural cooperatives, 17% industrial cooperatives and 12% building cooperatives all playing important role in National Economy.
The Ministry has recently stressed on seven strategies for promotion & growth of cooperatives in Iran. To strengthen the bilateral cooperation in the field of cooperatives, a MoU may be signed between the two countries in future.
Bijender Singh, Vice-President of NCUI clarified differences between NCDC and NCUI to the visiting delegation.
Earlier, a presentation on Indian Cooperative Movement and activities of NCUI was made by Ritesh Dey, Deputy Director of International Relations division of NCUI. The meeting was also attended by the two Vice-Presidents of NCUI Dr. Bijender Singh & G.H. Amin, Sunil Kumar Singh, Chairman, BISCOMAUN and all senior officers of NCUI & NCCT.