The two-day Regional Consultation of South Asia Cooperatives was inaugurated on Monday by Mr Chitra Bahadur KC, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Co-operatives and Poverty Alleviation, Nepal. He stressed on the role of cooperatives for economic development and referred to unique resilience of cooperatives in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Several luminaries present on the occasion included Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Secretary General, SAARC; Dr. Somlal Subedi, Chief Secretary of Nepal Government; Mr. Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Secretary, Ministry of Co-operatives, and Poverty Alleviation, Nepal; Mr. Keshav Badal, Chairman, National Cooperative Federation of Nepal; Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific.
There were also delegates from national apex members and government officials from Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
In his opening speech, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific mentioned that Governments from around the world recently endorsed the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) negotiated through the United Nations and in this cooperatives have been recognized as a player to achieve inclusive economic growth and job creation.
Iyer called on cooperatives to take advantage of the SAARC Kathmandu Declaration of 2014 that specifically recognizes the potential of cooperatives in achieving inclusive, broad-based and sustainable economic growth and development.
Mr. Arjun Bahadur Thapa, Secretary General, SAARC in his address mentioned that cooperatives work for the common good of people and are key to achieving inclusive growth. He called for the development of a SAARC Blueprint for Cooperatives and the development of a regional consortium of cooperatives for deeper integration. He was open to the idea of a memorandum of understanding with the International Cooperative Alliance.
Dr. Somlal Subedi, Chief Secretary, Government of Nepal spoke of the role cooperatives play in poverty reduction, social integration and in generating youth employment. Mr. Saroj Kumar Sharma, Co-chairman, NCDB, spoke of the development of cooperative acts over the years and the role of cooperatives in empowering members.
Deputy PM of Nepal also said the International Year of Cooperatives provided impetus to the cooperative movement and brought out the importance of the member based social business model. He reiterated the commitment of his government to developing and strengthening cooperatives. He pointed out that in the new Constitution of Nepal, cooperatives are considered the third pillar of the economy along with the private and public sector and the formation of a separate ministry of cooperatives and poverty alleviation.
He talked of his government’s commitment to build value chain in agriculture, develop a national cooperative academy and develop strong MIS systems. He called for the development of a strong regional association of cooperatives the provided a meaningful platform to share information and exchange best practices.
The Regional Consultation among senior representatives of government, coop movement, concerned international agencies and other stake holders aims to ensure that critical issues concerning growth and development of cooperative model of business are addressed and discussed, as an important precursor to the 10th Asia-Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference scheduled for April, 2016.
The expected outcome of the Regional Consultation will produce relevant and tangible recommendations that will be proposed, addressed and discussed at the forthcoming Asia Pacific Co?operative Ministers’ Conference in 2016.
-based on inputs provided by Balu Iyer