Following Indian cooperator, Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav’s election as the President of the Board of ICA AP, the international cooperative body met for the first time last Friday virtually. While Yadav and his team of aides sat in Delhi, other board members participated from their respective countries.
Talking to the Indian Cooperative, soon after the meeting, Chandra Pal said the meeting was a full house and we discussed the role of cooperatives in the region in the current challenging situation.
The fear of Corona is still looming overhead leading to a reduction in people’s movement from one country to another. To add to the woes, the Russia- Ukraine war has hampered not only the movement of people but also supplies. The ICA AP Board discussed issues emanating from these situations and decided to make a blueprint for overcoming the challenges, said Yadav who presided over the meeting for the first time.
Presently, we are focussing on enhancing the membership base of the ICA Asia Pacific. There is a lot of work to be done in this direction and the Board discussed the issue threadbare, said Chandra Pal.
There are also issues of “no subscription” from some of our members as they are caught in a difficult situation. Due to sanctions, Iran, one of our important members, is not able to convert its currency into dollars. The situation of Sri Lanka is no better with the deep economic crisis weighing it down, underlined Chandra Pal.
“We are thinking of seeking exemption for such cases from the global ICA Board in June, where its elections are scheduled; these countries are very much our own, we have to support them in crisis”, said the newly elected President.
Giving details, the ICA AP tweeted “Today, the new ICA-AP Regional Board held its first formal meeting post-election in New Delhi, India (Hybrid). The regional office looks forward to working with them over the next 4 years to further the cooperative movement in the Asia-Pacific region.”
Chandra Pal was happy that all the Board members were present at the Friday meeting that lasted more than two and a half hours. NCUI Chief Executive and ED Savitri Singh was also in the meeting assisting the President. “Every board member is entitled to have their interpreters and support teams to assist them in the discussion”, explained Chandra Pal.
The International Co-operative Alliance came to Asia Pacific Region with the establishment of the Regional Office & Education Center for South-East Asia in 1960 in New Delhi. About 33 countries of the region are members of ICA AP.