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1ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2009

ICA ASIA PACIFIC

Classification of 2009 Activities of ICA AsiaPacific according to the Strategic Objectivesof ICA

MEMBERSHIP: Making membership of ICA more meaningful and rewarding:

Adoption of new ICA membership subscription criteria.

Exploratory mission to induct new members from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.

Confidence building mission to Bangladesh.

Formulation of a simple brochure on procedure to obtain membership of ICA and benefits ofjoining ICA.

Initiation to induct new members from the Gulf countries especially from Saudi Arabia andBaharain.

INFLUENCE: Sharing of best practices and strengths of co-operatives with governmentsfor developing co-operative movements:

Visit of ICA President to India to address the Credit Co-operative Sector of India and deliverVaikunth Mehta Memorial Lecture in February, 2009.

Visit of high level Iranian delegation to India to study Co-operative Government Relationship.

ICA-IFFCO-CLT International Conference on Enhanced Role of Co-operatives in EconomicRecession, Thailand in July 2009.

Conference on Co-operative Development in Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.

IFFCO supported International Seminar on Coop Innovations through Consumer Cooperativesin Sri Lanka.

Uploading the website of ICA AP with membership information and details together with regularupdate on various technical papers presented at various conferences, meetings and seminars.

Publication of quarterly information about the activities of ICA AP.

DEVELOPMENT: Creating level playing field for co-operatives and building networks:

MAFF supported ICA-Japan Training Programs for the managers of agricultural co-operatives,women leaders on poverty reduction, skill building and marketing strategies.

SNCF sponsored training program for the managers of consumer and apex co-operatives.

Visit of the managers of agricultural co-operatives to Korea.

Post disaster co-operative reconstruction program in Myanmar.

IFFCO supported project on youth and women empowerment in Sri Lanka.

ICA-NCUI UNDP project on HIV/AIDS awareness generation in India.

GOVERNANCE: Setting good example for co-operatives in the Region:

Two meetings of the Regional Board of the ICA Asia Pacific – Tokyo & Geneva.

Approval of the Annual Activity Plan and Budget of ICA AP by the Regional Board.

Timely publication of the 2008 Annual Activity of ICA AP.

ICA AP University Co-op Committee Conference in Thailand and the 1st meeting of the officialsof the committee.

Meeting of the office bearers of Agriculture, Consumer, Women and Research committees ofICA AP.

Selection of new Regional Director of ICA Asia Pacific.

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ICA ASIA PACIFIC

ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2009

It is my utmost privilege toreport the activities of ICAduring 2009. I am quite happyto have succeeded Mr ShilKwan Lee who was at thehelm of affairs of the ICA AsiaPacific during 2009 and whoalso happens to be my great

fraternal colleague.

The activities during 2009 were of diverse nature.The most important amongst others were aninternational conference in Thailand to gauge thescope of cooperatives in the post economic crisis,cooperative development conference in SaudiArabia, ICA membership to importantcooperatives from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan andMongolia, women and youth empowermentproject in Sri Lanka, post cyclone cooperativereconstruction project in Myanmar, specialseminar of university/campus cooperativecommittee of the ICA AP and the MAFF supportedtraining programs in IDACA.

The interventions carried out by ICA Asia Pacificduring the last year were quite meaningful andpurposive. I am happy for the opportunity that

Message from the Regional Director,ICA Asia Pacific

has come my way to serve the interests of themembers of ICA from the Asia Pacific region andthe regional co-operative movement at large. I amconfident of delivering the services as efficientlyas in the past and would like to compliment theteam work of the ICA Asia Pacific team in NewDelhi and in Singapore.

The year 2010 will be my first year as the RegionalDirector of this very vibrant and diverse region ofthe world and my priority will be to implementthe activity plan for the year 2010 as prepared bymy predecessor Mr Shil Kwan Lee and approvedby the Regional Board of ICA Asia Pacific in Genevain November 2009.

I count on the support and encouragement of allthe members of ICA from this region and docommit to serve the cause of co-operatives in thisregion in an effective and diligent manner. Thechallenge and scope is huge but I am quiteoptimistic to reaching out to expectations ofesteemed members with the guidance of theRegional Board and support of my team in theAsia Pacific office of the ICA.

Dr Chan Ho CHOI

The past eight years were fullof multiple challenges for thecooperatives but theundaunted spirit of the ICAmembers helped ICA withstoodthe test of trial times. Theearthquake in Gujarat, India in2001, Tsunami in India,Indonesia and Sri Lanka in

2004, Earthquake in Indonesia in 2005, Cyclonein Myanmar and Earthquake in China in 2008besides the challenges posed by the WTOnegotiations and the economic crisis were a fewof notable challenges that ICA could face boldlywith the cooperative support of cooperativefraternity and technical support of my committedteam at the ICA office in New Delhi.

I take this opportunity to thank one and all thatmade my tenure member responsive and membercentric. The programs and projects that have beencarried out consistently with the support of

cooperative and external donors deserve a specialmention and the names of MAFF Japan, JA-ZENCHU/IDACA, JCCU, SNCF, NACF, ACFSMC,IFFCO, Coop UK, NCUI, ICC, CURACI, AGRITERRA,European Commission assume great applause andappreciation. I am sure the length and breadth ofsuch collaborations would attain much larger scalesin the times to come.

The coming times on one hand pose big challengebefore cooperatives in general and ICA in particularbut on the other hand also broaden the scope ofICA in achieving the much cherished MDGs of theUnited Nations and the global concerns of othermulti lateral institutions like the World Bank, IMFand the EU. The ICA with its restructured vision,strategic objectives and the governance regimewould certainly enable ICA in repositioning thecooperatives across the world at the desired priorityand preferential order.

Shil Kwan Lee

Former Regional Director’s Gratitude


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

I have mixed feeling ofsadness and happinesswhile presenting the2009 activity report ofICA Asia Pacific. Theyear 2009 snatchedaway from us ourbeloved President Mr.Ivano Barberini at thetime when we hadneeded him most. Assuch it was a tragic loss

to the whole cooperative fraternity and a causeof deep sorrow for ICA. But it was a great fortuneof ICA to have a leader of his stature as thePresident of ICA and I am quite happy that wecould have him for a good time. I thereforededicate this report to Mr Barberini. He had sensedan immense responsibility on co-operatives inmitigating the impact of economic disaster andtermed the crisis as L shaped and described it asmoral crisis of capitalism. The ICA and the wholecooperative fraternity will never forget the greatcontribution of Mr. Barberini in the affairs of ICA.He was truly a great cooperative philosopher andit wouldn’t be inapt to call him Robert Owenreincarnated.

The year 2009 as you all know was full ofuncertainties for both investor owned corporatehouses and member owned co-operativeenterprises. The reason was deep economic crisistriggered on account of insatiable lust of thefinancial market for the profits. The crisis thoughseverest in its form brought huge opportunity forthe co-operatives to prove their mettle.

Cooperatives, along their history, have proved tobuild a type of economy with the followingcharacteristics, each of which is in stark contrastwith those that have brought about the economiccrisis:

Ø It is based on needs that are basic andpermanent

Ø It is based on ordinary citizens, and jointogether to solve the needs mentioned above

Ø It is rooted in the local community and doesnot delocalise

Ø It is not for sale and thus not dependent uponthe ups and downs of the shareholders’market.

Ø It is based on democratic control by members-owners, with accountability and cross checks

Ø It plays a strong stabilising role on the markets.

Message from the President, ICA Asia Pacific

Over the past few decades, cooperatives have byand large shied away from asserting themselvesaccording to their own identity. The time is justappropriate to market the co-operative advantagesand mobilize the strength of successful co-operatives to position co-operatives as reliable andsustainable form of economic models.

It is my privilege to share with you the 2009activities of ICA Asia Pacific that were carried outin the background of economic slowdown worldover and other contingencies that had gripped theregion. With enthusiastic support from our regionalmembers, a broad range of initiatives in forms ofseminars, conferences, trainings courses have beenimplemented to strengthen the administration,brand-building, marketing, and women’sleadership in cooperatives, and explore successfulexperiences that could help cooperatives to surviveand excel. Also, by the tireless efforts ofcooperatives around the world, including thesignificant contribution by our regional members,the United Nations proclaimed 2012 InternationalYear of Cooperatives on December 18, 2009, ahistorical breakthrough and boost to thecooperative movement around the world.

While we have more than enough reasons tocelebrate the success in 2009, many things remainto be done ahead of us. The cooperativemovement needs to strongly develop its ownsector specific standards based on its set of valuesand principles. Cooperatives should strengtheninformation and education at large, including onthe successes of legendary cooperative institutionsand enterprises. In particular for gaining theconfidence afresh, people should be convinced toput the stakes in cooperative ventures especiallyin the captive market segments wherecooperatives enjoy their own niche. Moreemphasis should be put on the cooperationbetween cooperatives, with concrete measuresand a strategic plan.

In 2010, we will have the 9th Regional Assemblyin Beijing in early September, and India ICA EXPO,the first one in our region, at the end of the year.

I am sure the year 2010 will witness moresuccessful initiatives by ICA Asia Pacific now beingled by new Regional Director, Dr Chan Ho CHOI.Before concluding I must thank Mr Shil Kwan Leefor his dynamic leadership and welcome Dr CHOIwith all my best wishes.

Li Chunsheng

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Ivano Barberini inaugurated the NationalConference on Revival of Rural CooperativeCredit Structure in India

The National Conference on Revival of RuralCooperative Credit was held in Chandigarh on

9th February 2009. Mr. Ivano Barberini, PresidentICA together with his wife inaugurated theConference. Hon’ble Captain Kanwaljeet Singh,Cooperative Minister, Governement of Punjab hadextended the invitation to Mrs & Mr Barberini tovisit co-operatives in Punjab and also inauguratethe conference. Mr G.D. Amin, President ofNational Cooperative Union of India while takingthe best advantage of Mr Barberini’s visit to Indiahad requested Mr. Barberini to deliver VaikunthBhai Mehta Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on12th February 2009.

The National Conference on Revival of RuralCooperative Credit in India was organized byNCARDBF. The inaugural session was chaired byHonorable Chief Minister of Punjab and co-chairedby Hon’ble Cooperative Minister of Punjab. MrBarberini extended greetings on behalf of globalcooperative fraternity and also congratulated the

organizers and the Government of Punjab underthe leadership of Chief Minister Mr. Prakash SinghBadal for organizing this conference at the righttime.

Mr. Barberini emphasized the role of financialinstitutions especially cooperative banks inrecovering from the economic crisis and termedthis economic crisis as the moral crisis ofcapitalism. He referred to the contributions madeby great philosophers and scholars like; AdamSmith, the Scottish economist and philosopher,who laid down the basis for classic politicaleconomy and believed that the free market shouldhave included values such as solidarity, generosityand the idea of the state, rather than only pursuingthe goal to achieve a maximum profit; RobertOwen, the father of cooperative philosophy, whogave the idea of mutual trust and solidarity; andNobel Prize winner for Economics, Amarthya Sen,who recommended intelligent and humane useof the notion of cooperation were referred by Mr.

Mr. and Mrs. Barberini, Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, Mr. K. Sivadasan Nair and Capt. Kanwaljit Singh lighting the

traditional lamp to mark the inauguration of the Conference


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

Barberini. He affirmed that the market economywas heavily dependent on the psychologicalmechanism of reciprocal trust.

Mr Barberini labeled lack of reciprocal trust as oneof the most serious and evident causes of thepresent economic crisis and cautioned thatrecovering from this distrust would be a key factorfor economic recovery. He also stated that thecooperatives need to understand that they mustbe competitive with the best companies andreferred the set of guidelines for an assuredsuccess of cooperative enterprises.

The cooperative enterprises in his understandingwere designed for continuity and innovation. MrBarberini also addressed the press and media andtermed cooperatives as the antidote to economicrecession. Mr Barberini also responded to therequest of Hon’ble Cooperative Minister of Punjabfor signing a Memorandum of Understandingbetween Department of Co-operatives,Government of Punjab and International Co-operative Alliance for the setting-up of anInternational Center for Promotion andDevelopment of Co-operatives in Punjab to benefitthe cooperatives engaged in exports of food andagricultural commodities in Punjab, Haryana,

Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and UttrarakhandStates in northern India.

The main idea behind signing the MoU was tocreate a nodal agency that would provide technicaladvice to the governments for creation offavorable policy environment for the developmentof cooperatives and advise necessaryimprovements in the cooperative legislation forbetter regulation of the cooperatives. Proposedcentre as per his vision must be seen as theorganization capable of catalyzing and mobilizingthought churning process on relevant contextualissues affecting co-operatives so as to serve thecooperative communities well, compete withMNCs and survive successfully in the competitivemarket economy.

On February 12, 2009, Mr. Barberini delivered theVaikunth Mehta Memorial Lecture on “Role of Co-operatives in Economic Recession” at NCUIauditorium. He also felicitated Mr. G.D. Amin onbeing elected as the Vice-chair of ICA Asia PacificBoard.

Mr Barberini also addressed the press and mediaand held discussions with top bureaucrats, leadersand executives of cooperatives at the receptionhosted by NCUI.

Mr. Ivano Barberini sharing the dais with Mr. Prakash Singh Badal, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Punjab State of

India

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ICA-IFFCO-CLT International Conference onEnhanced Role of Cooperatives in Recoveryfrom the Economic Crisis

The Conference on “Enhanced Role ofCooperatives in Recovery from the Economic

Crisis” was organized by ICA Asia Pacific incollaboration with Cooperative League of Thailandand Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative with theobjective of creating a shared vision on the scopeand role of cooperatives in the global economiccrisis and devise a common strategy to repositioncooperatives as preferred form of enterprises.

Seventy-five participants from Cooperatives andGovernments of 16 countries in the Asia Pacificregion attended the conference. The basis ofdeliberations was subject specific presentationsmade by experts from ICA and top officials ofsuccessful cooperatives namely NACF, IFFCO,JCCU, and SNCF. The presentations were focusedon impressive track record of cooperatives thathad transformed the core cooperative values intopractice. The conference deliberated on variouscritical and crucial aspects about co-operatives.

Main Challenges before Co-operatives :

Over the past few decades, cooperatives have byand large shied away from asserting themselvesaccording to their own identity. There are many

reasons but the onus lies on the cooperativeleadership. The share of intra-cooperative tradeand economic agreements is still far too low toensure that cooperatives are a relevant actor inthe global economy. This is not to say thatcooperatives should create a parallel economy, butonly that they should have a far more substantialpart of trade and economic agreements than hasbeen the case so far.

The cooperative movement needs to stronglydevelop its own standards based on its own setof values and principles, against those that aredeveloping against us, such as the InternationalFinancial Reporting Standards that will destroy usif we do nothing. The cooperative standardsshould be better developed along the differentcooperative sectors.

Cooperatives should strengthen information andeducation at large, including on the successes oflegendary cooperative institutions and enterprises.In particular for gaining the confidence afresh,people should be convinced to put the stakes incooperative ventures especially in the captivemarket segments where cooperatives enjoy theirown niche.

Group photo of the distinguished delegates at the Conference


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

D r Hosseini Nia, Deputy Minister ofCooperatives, Islamic Republic of Iran along

with 20 officials of most successful cooperativesfrom Iran visited India from 4th to 11th January2009. The main objective of the visit was tounderstand the collaboration betweenGovernment and Co-operative Movement for thedevelopment of cooperatives in India.

The efficient team of FMDI, Gurgaon of IFFCOlooked after the delegation on their arrival andstay in New Delhi. The delegation visited ICA tohave a meeting with the Regional Director of ICAAsia Pacific and also visited NCDC for interactionwith Managing Director, NCDC and Senior Staffmembers of NCDC.

Dr Hosseini Nia also called upon the Hon’bleMinister of State for Co-operatives, Governmentof India. The Ambassador of Iran in Indiaaccompanied him.

The delegation visited the National Cooperative

Trade Fair at Jaipur and a Coop Folk VillageRestaurant run by Oil Seed Growers’ CoopFederation of Rajasthan. The delegation had goodinteraction with the Registrar of Cooperatives,Government of Rajasthan Jaipur and the facultymembers of the Rajasthan Institute of CooperativeEducation and Management.

Later, the delegation visited Saras Dairy, the dairycoopertive of Rajasthan, State Cooperative LandDevelopment Bank, State Cooperative Bank andalso held a meeting with the Cooperative Ministerof Government of Rajasthan.

A MoU was signed between the Chairman ofRICEM and Hon’ble Dy. Minister of Iran for theexchange of technical know-how to managecooperatives better and more effectively.

The Ministry of Cooperatives, Islamic Republic ofIran has requested ICA to facilitate cooperativedevelopment in Iran. The framework ofcollaboration is being worked out.

Visit of Iranian delegation to India

H.E. Dr. Hosseini Nia, Dy. Minister of Cooperatives, Iran, and members of the delegation with the Ambassador of

Iran to India

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ICA ASIA PACIFIC


3rd ICA-Japan Training Course on “Enhancementof Farmers’ Income and Poverty Reductionthrough Cooperatives”

The 3rd Training course on “Enhancement ofFarmers’ Income and Poverty Reduction

through Cooperatives” was held from 07thDecember 2008 to 18th April 2009, with a focuson strengthening of farm guidance method, jointcollection, marketing, safety and improvement ofquality of farm products. The training programmewas implemented by the ICA-AP in collaborationwith IFFCO/FMDI, Gurgaon, Institute of RuralManagement (IRMA), Anand (Gujarat), India,IDACA, Tokyo (Japan) and ICA’s member-organizations in India, Iran and Japan.

The training course was attended by the 12participants from Combodia, China, Indi,Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal andVietnam.

The participants also attended the IRMA segmentof the course at the Institute of Rural Management(IRMA), Anand, from 23rd January to 22nd

February, 2009. The comparative field study visitsin Iran were from 26th February to 4th March 2009and the Part-III of the programme was scheduledat IDACA, Tokyo (Japan) from 5th March to 18thApril 2009.

At the concluding session at IDACA on 17th April,2009, Mr. Shinji Kawabe, Deputy Director,International Cooperation Division, MAFF, Mr. ShilKwan Lee, Regional Director, ICA-AP, Mr. Higuchi,Section Chief, JA-Zenchu, Mr. Miyazaki, M.D.IDACA and Mr. A.K.Taneja, ICA-AP, addressed theparticipants.

This programme has immensely benefitted manyagricultural cooperatives in the region. Theknowledge and skills that the participants acquiredhave transformed the vision of agriculturalcooperatives thereby serving the needs of theirmembers in a much better way in the spirit of thecooperative and ethical values.

Participants of the Training course with the officials of IDACA and President JA-Zenchu


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

An “International Seminar on Coop Innovationsthrough Consumer Cooperatives” was

organized in Sri Lanka on 17th March 2009 atHotel Galadari, Colombo. The Seminar was jointlyorganized by IFFCO, India and Coopfed, Sri Lanka.It was attended by the leaders and managers ofco-operatives and senior officials from the Co-operative Ministry and Office of Commissioner ofCo-operatives.

The participants included Chairmen, GeneralManagers and Managers from 16 Multi PurposeCooperative Societies in Sri Lanka affiliated to SriLankan Consumer Cooperative SocietiesFederation Ltd, Commissioners of Cooperativesfrom the Central Government, and three ProvincialGovernments, Secretary to the Government,Additional Secretary to the Government andspecial Adviser to the Ministry.

Resource Persons were arranged by the ICA AP toshare their knowledge, experience and ideas with

the participants. A number of presentations weremade by the experts on various issues ofcooperatives, i.e., Past and Present situations inthe Cooperatives of Sri Lanka, Case study ofDeveloping Sri Lankan Cooperative movement,Role of Cooperatives in Recovery from EconomicCrisis, Market Penetration Strategy of SaigonConsumer Cooperatives in Vietnam, TourismDelight through Cooperatives, Innovative Servicesthrough cooperatives – A case study of Rajasthan,India.

The leaders and managers of cooperatives at theseminar expressed their happiness andappreciation for the rare opportunity they got tolisten to creative and innovative approaches madeby fraternal cooperators overseas. The participantsfelt enriched with the knowledge gained andcommitted themselves to plan the future progressof this sector as per the discussions and decisionstaken.

International Seminar of Coop Innovationsthrough Consumer Cooperatives, Sri Lanka

VIPs of the Cooperative Movement of Sri Lanka reciting the cooperative song of Sri Lanka at the inauguration

of the Seminar

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ICA ASIA PACIFIC


A joint workshop with ICA-AP and Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) was held on 8-9

April 2009 at Hue City, Vietnam. 45 leaders from15 cooperatives of Thua Thien Hue Provinceattended the workshop.

At the workshop, lecturers from Singapore andJapan gave suggestive presentations on “BasicPrinciples in Operating Small-Sized Stores”, “BasicMethodology of Store Comparison” and “HomeDelivery Business by Consumer Coops in Japan”,

Workshop on Development of ConsumerCo-operatives in Vietnam

Ms. Le Thi Huong, Chairlady of Thuan ThanhConsumer Cooperative, analyzed major challengessurrounding consumer co-ops in Vietnam.

According to her analysis, average turnover ofconsumer co-ops in Ho Chi Min city accounts foronly 10.9% of average consumption per capita,while other economic sectors serve 89.1%. Shedrew on the advantages of private sector anddisadvantages of cooperative sector in Vietnam.

Group photo of the participants with the Chairperson of Thuan Thanh Consumer Cooperative and Mr. Yoshi

Nakamura, Special Advisor, ICA-SBO

The All China Federation of Supply andMarketing Coops organized a National

Workshop for Agricultural Exporters in Beijing,China from August 5 to 7, 2009.

The workshop was attended by more than 70managers and leaders of primary agriculturecooperatives in various parts of China. Theworkshop was addressed by the officials fromMinistry of Commerce, Vice-President of ACFSMC,experts on export policies, trade friction, import

ACFSMC Workshop for Agricultural Exportersheld in Beijing

barriers and quality management. Resourcepersons from USA, Japan and ICA-AP madepresentations on Strategies for marketing Chineseproducts to US buyers, Agriculture market in Japanand marketing strategies for Japanese Buyers andBusiness cooperation between cooperatives inAsia Pacific Region respectively.

The workshop was quite enriching for both theparticipants and speakers.


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

Women development and gendermainstreaming in cooperatives is one of the

priority areas of ICA. We are concerned about lowand negligible participation of women at all levelsof cooperatives in the region i.e. 30% atmembership and 8% at leadership and decision-making. This is not a comfortable situation giventhe fact that 60-70% of farming and foodproduction work is done by women.

Therefore, ICA-AP is implementing a number ofcapacity building programme for the membercooperatives for gender main-streaming andenhancing number and quality of womenparticipation. Towards this endeavour, a skilldevelopment programme “Management CapacityBuilding of Women for Co-operativeDevelopment” is being conducted regularly.

This year the programme was organized for thecooperative movement of Malaysia in KualaLumpur from 28 June to 3 July, 2009. Thisprogramme aimed at assisting the cooperativemovement of Malaysia to review the status ofgender integration and women’s participation,

Management Capacity Building of Womenfor Co-operative Development

constraints and possible solution to enhance thequantitative and qualitative participation ofwomen. The methodology involved presentationof status paper by ANGKASA and discussion onvarious aspects facilitated by resource persons. Thediscussion led to creating a road map followed byeducation and training on various skills crucial forquality participation in cooperative business andmanagement.

Besides training on business issues, a session wasalso held on social and developmental issue ofHIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. The mainissues discussed in the programme were:

• Effective and gender-responsive leadership

• Entrepreneurship development

• Various aspects of management of a co-

operative i.e. product development, memberservices, accounts, balance sheet, bookkeeping etc.

• Coping with challenges and Personal

Development

• HIV/AIDS Awareness.

Participants and guests of the training program in Malaysia

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The 9th ICA Regional Workshop for Managerson “Management of Consumer Co-operatives

in Asia-Pacific” was held on 24-26 August 2009at Costa Sands Resort (Downtown East) inSingapore. Hosted by Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF) and supported byNTUC FairPrice, 17 managers of consumercooperatives from four countries (Myanmar,Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) activelyparticipated in the three-day workshop.

Resource persons from NTUC FairPrice coveredfour important areas of retail business, “VisualMerchandizing”, “Store Manage-ment”, “StaffTraining and Development”, “Basic Methodologyfor Store Comparison”.

Ms. Eriko Sakurai (Trainer, Cash Register Group,Store Operation Department of Co-op NetBusiness Federation, Japan) was invited as aresource person. She made a presentation on

9th ICA Regional Workshop for Managers on“Management of Consumer Co-operatives inAsia-Pacific” held in Singapore

“Customer Service Strategy in Store Operation ofCo-op Net” and conducted a practical trainingon customer service. All participants activelyparticipated in the practical training and learntthe importance of finding “unconsciousexpectations” of customers.

The participants visited a hypermarket, aconvenience store and two supermarkets of NTUCFairPrice, and its competitors’ stores on the secondday. They learnt about practical techniques forstore operation such as merchandise assortment,display and pricing.

On the last day of the workshop, the participantswere divided into 4 groups and made a groupdiscussion on the “solutions” to the scenariosgiven on the first day. After the discussions, theparticipants made presentations on the“solutions” based on their own SWOT analysis.

Fact Finding Mission to Kazakhstan andMongolia

The ICA-AP Regional Director, Mr. Shil Kwan Lee,visited Kazakhstan from 9-12 June 2009. The

purpose of his visit was to hold discussions withUnion of Consumer Societies on strengthening therole of ICA-AP for cooperative development inCentral Asia and visit some cooperatives to getacquainted himself with the cooperative situationin Kazakhstan. He met Mr. K.S. Ashlyayev,President and other senior officers of the Union.Mr. Shil Kwan Lee also visited Mongolia from 23-

27 June. The purpose of his visit was to get a newmember of ICA from Mongolia and visit somecooperatives to get acquainted himself with thecooperative situation in Mongolia. He held detaileddiscussions with Mr. Bayartsaikhan Nadmid,President and senior officers of NationalAssociation of Mongolian AgriculturalCooperatives (NAMAC). Both the abovecooperatives later became members of ICA.

Mr. Shil Kwan Lee, Regional Director with the leaders

and officials of Kazakhstan cooperatives

Mr. Shil Kwan Lee, Regional Director with the leaders

and officials of NAMAC


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The ICA Americas organized its first CooperativeSummit in September, 2009 in Guadalahara,

Mexico. The chief guest of the opening was Ms.Maria Elena Herting, Deputy Director-General ofICA. The ICA America VI Continental Meeting ofWomen Cooperators was also held in conjunctionwith the Summit. The ICA Regional Office for

Co-operative Summit and Women Conferenceof the Americas-2009

Americas invited Mrs. Savitri Singh, Advisor GenderProgramme to participate at the Summit andcontinental meeting of the women cooperators.The topic of discussion was, “Global CrisesPanorama and its Impact on Women’s lives”. Mrs.Savitri Singh presented a report from the ICA-APRegion.

The ICA-AP organized a workshop on“Enhancing the Role of Women in Co-

operative Business” for women and mencooperative leaders of the region from 8-10September 2009 in Manila, Philippines. Theconsultations during the workshop focused uponcooperative endeavor to promote women’sinterests for gender mainstreaming in cooperatives.

ICA Regional Workshop on Enhancing theRole of Women in Co-operatives

The 3 days programme consisted of one dayworkshop followed by 2 days study visits to fewsuccessful cooperative businesses in the country.A group of about 15 women and men cooperatorsfrom India, China, Nepal, Japan and Malaysiaparticipated in the programme to have an exposureof gender focused best practices in the Filipinocooperatives.

Participants of the Workshop in Manila, Philippines

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4th Training Course on “Promotion ofSustainable Enterprises for Rural Women”

Group photo of the participants of the training course

The ICA-AP in collaboration with the JA-ZENCHU[Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of

Japan] and the Institute for the Development ofAgricultural Cooperation in Asia [IDACA] held the4th Training Course on “Promotion of SustainableEnterprises for Rural Women” from 20-25,September 2009 in Vietnam and Japan.

Twelve women participants – two each fromCambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal andVietnam attended the Training Course. The mainobjectives of the Training Course were: (a) to learnmethods of enterprise development by ruralwomen through case studies; (b) to studymanagement methods of micro-enterprises byrural women and (c) to learn methods ofencouraging women to be involved in ruralcommunities’ development.

Comparative Study Visits was held in Vietnam from20-29, August in collaboration with VietnamCooperative Alliance, a member-organization ofICA. A program held at IDACA from 30th Augustto 25th September 2009 included extensiveclassroom work and study visits to agriculturalcooperatives in Saitama and Aomori Prefecturesof Japan. Lecture-cum-practical field study visitsassignments were combined to impart necessaryknowledge to the participants on the working of

women’s associations and the general activitiesof agricultural cooperatives in Japan.

The participants were able to develop briefoutlines of their Action Plans which they wouldbe recommending to their respective organizationson return to their home countries.

Course Evaluation was conducted at theconclusion of the Training Course. The participantsfelt that the training course was very relevant forthe women leaders of agricultural cooperativesin Asia and also expressed their greatestappreciation to the Ministry of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Government ofJapan for providing support for this TrainingCourse. They hoped that the MAFF wouldcontinue to support this training program in thefuture. A Certificate of Participation was awardedto each participant at the concluding session heldat IDACA. The concluding session was attendedby Mr. Fuminori Miyatake, Deputy Director,International Cooperation Division, InternationalAffairs Department, Ministry of Agriculture,Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF); Mr. KenjiroMiyazaki, Managing Director of IDACA; Mr. K.Sethu Madhavan, Planning Officer/ProgramCoordinator, ICA Asia-Pacific; and other seniorofficers of IDACA.


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T he 1st ICA-SNCF Business Seminar forCooperative Leaders was held on 23-24

October 2009 in Singapore. The main objective ofthis seminar was to provide cooperative leaders,especially from ASEAN countries, with an insightof competitive cooperative business that willcatapult their careers even on this global economiccrisis and forge and foster camaraderie andintegration with the different cooperatives withinAsia and the Pacific region. Hosted by SingaporeNational Co-operative Federation (SNCF), 18 co-operative leaders from 8 countries (India, Indonesia,Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, SriLanka and Vietnam) participated in the two-dayseminar.

Mrs. Dolly Goh, Chief Executive Office of the SNCF,welcomed all the participants and made aninspiring presentation on the CooperativeMovement in Singapore. Following herpresentation, Dr. Charles Chow nominated by theManagement Development Institute of Singapore(MDIS) facilitated the seminar. He gave suggestivepresentations on the following topics:

- Appraisal of present co-operative business inAsia & Pacific.

- How to fulfill the crucial role of co-operativesin the recovery from economic crisis.

- Blue Ocean Strategy = value innovation- Nine Windows : problem space and solution

space- Unique Advantage (resilience)

- Viable System Model (self-regulation)- Hidden Champions- Green Positioning- Management capacity building in changing

economic scenario.- Leadership Perspective- Leadership Endurance- Evaluation of Business Options

On the basis of his presentations, the participantsdivided into four groups to discuss followingthemes:

- Future business options generating profitwhich various co-operative sectors in Asia &Pacific region can equally share.

- Detailed implementation plan for the above-mentioned business options (ownership, timeframe, etc.)

As a result of the group discussion, participantschose an option standardizing education/trainingprograms carried out at cooperative educational/training institutes in Asia and Pacific and settingup a certification business by the ICA-AP as theirfirst choice.

The participants visited Telecoms Credit Co-operative Limited (TCC) and leant its successfulbusiness encapsulated by the phrase “the creditco-operative with a heart”. The participants sharedthe necessity of business collaboration across theregion and the ICA-AP was requested to fulfill itsrole in developing business collaboration amongcooperatives.

1st ICA-SNCF Business Seminar for CooperativeLeaders

The participants of ICA-SNCF Business Seminar in Singapore

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ICA ASIA PACIFIC


ICA-Japan Training Project on CapacityBuilding for Marketing

T he Training Course was held inIDACA, Japan from 02-27 November, 2009.

A total of 22 participants (8 women and 14 men)from 9 ASEAN countries joined the course.

The participants were middle level officers fromthe Agriculture Department and cooperatives from9 ASEAN countries. The classroom lectures wereheld at IDACA whereas field visits were arrangedat neighboring prefectures. Participants also visitedthe wholesale market for fruits, vegetables andflowers.

Mrs. Savitri Singh emphasized the utility of theproject because of the opportunity to learn fromthe successful Japanese cooperative experience.She also thanked IDACA, MAFF and JA-Zenchufor their collaboration with ICA to implement thisprogramme. Mr. Nakamura Yuichi, DeputyDirector, MAFF and Mr. Sugiyama Takayuki, Staffin Charge, JA Zenchu also extended warm

Group photo of the participants of the training course

welcome to the participants, explained briefly aboutthe objectives and conveyed their best wishes forthe successful completion of the programme.

Mr. Miyazaki, Managing Director of IDACA,delivered his opening address and extended a warmwelcome to the participants. At the outset, heconveyed his gratitude to MAFF, JA Zenchu, ICAAPand explained the objectives of the project andhoped that participants would get useful ideas tosecure income of farmers through cooperative agri-marketing.

He also briefly focused on the history andestablishment of IDACA and it’s valuablecontribution in developing co-operators andcooperatives in many countries worldwide.

A formal closing ceremony was attended by therepresentatives from ICA, IDACA, MAFF and JA-Zenchu. Mr. Miyazaki awarded certificates to theparticipants.


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

The Ministry of Social Affairs in the RoyalKingdom of Saudi Arabia organized ‘The

Cooperative Societies Forum’ in Riyadh from 24to 26 May 2009 with the objective of promotingthe scope and potential of cooperatives in thebiggest country in the GCC sub-region.

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Kingdom of SaudiArabia introduced newly formed National Co-operative Council to the Cooperative SocieitesForum in Riyadh that was attended by more than150 delegates from Saudi Arabia and othercountries of the GCC sub-region like UAE, Kuwait,Yemen, Baharain and Oman. On behalf of TheCustodian of The Two Holy Mosques, the Forumwas inaugurated by His Excellency the Minister ofSocial Affairs and addressed by key cooperatorsand scholars from Saudi Arabia and participatingcountries.

Technical presentations on global cooperativeperspective were made by resource persons fromICA Asia Pacific namely Mr Shil Kwan Lee, RegionalDirector, Mr Rajiv I.D. Mehta, Deputy RegionalDirector and Mr Zee Yoong Kang the CEO ofSingapore National Trades Unions Congress’s Co-operative training company, NTUC Learning Hub.

3rd GCC Cooperative Societies’ Forum-Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The forum recognized that cooperatives in mostof the developing economies have shownconsiderable resilience as an organizational formand as a voice for the active user membersotherwise unable to attain economy of scale andco-operatives when performing efficientlyrepresent a private sector model that providesmany benefits and opportunities to its members.The resurgence of global interest in co-operativesis not a passing fashion; co-operatives represent acost-effective and sustainable way to supportprivate sector development ensuring inclusivegrowth of national economy.

The Forum remained committed to establish astrong self reliant co-operative movement in theGCC countries, for the growth and developmentof cooperative movement with initial governmentsupport in the form of policy, legislation andfunding as happened in most of the developedcooperatives. ICA AP was entrusted with the taskof providing much needed technical support andinternational networking for the mainstreamingof the country cooperative movements with theAsia Pacific movement and global movement atlarge.

Mr Shil Kwan Lee, Regional Director ICA AP sharing the dias with the leaders of coops of Saudia Arabia

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ICA ASIA PACIFIC


The Conference on Cooperative Developmentin Myanmar was held on 16 & 17 June 2009

at Yangon. The Conference was organized by ICAAsia Pacific in collaboration with the CentralCooperative Society, Myanmar with the objectiveof “garnering policy support from the Governmentof Myanmar for promoting co-operatives as analternative of significance”.

More than 70 participants from Government’sCooperative Department and various Cooperativesin Myanmar attended the Conference.

The basis of deliberations was thematicpresentations made by experts from ICA-AP andtop ranking officials of successful cooperatives likeNACF, IFFCO and FSCT that have an establishedtrack record in transforming the core cooperativevalues into practice. The group came out with aset of recommendations both for the governmentand the cooperatives in Myanmar.

ICA-CCS Conference on Co-operativeDevelopment in Myanmar

Lessons Learned:

Considering the importance of community inmitigating the impact of disaster, lessons learnedworkshop was organized by ICA for the managersand leaders of cyclone affected coops in Myanmar.The objective was to assign the agenda of disasterpreparedness to the cooperatives. The workshopwas attended by the officers of cooperativedepartment, leaders, managers and members ofaffected cooperatives and officials of CCS.

The workshop concluded with the followingsuggestions:

a. The government must have well coordinatedresponse to any disaster.

b. The cooperatives being most legitimatecommunity based and democraticallygoverned organizations must be seriouslyconsidered for an important role in mitigatingthe impact of natural disasters.

Technical session in progress - Chairman CCS, Myanmar seen with galaxy of Resource Persons for the

Conference


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

The 1st Meeting of the 2008 elected RegionalBoard of ICA AP was held on 1st June 2009 at

the JCCU, Tokyo. Twenty-five delegates from ICAAP attended the meeting. The members wereinformed about the sad demise of Mr. Barberini.The meeting was chaired by Mr. G.H. Amin,President NCUI and Vice Chairman of the RegionalBoard of ICA AP.

Mr. Amin commenced the meeting on the noteof severe economic crisis that had engulfed theworld and laid emphasis on the fact that the timehas come to show the world about the advantagesand strengths of cooperatives in standing tallduring this crisis.

Ms. Tanaka made an impressive presentation onthe Japanese Cooperatives with special referenceto Consumer Coops catering to 25 millionmembers with a turnover of 34.1 billion USD forthe services ranging from retail sale to homedelivery, medical, insurance and housing. Mr.Higuchi from JA-Zenchu made a presentation onthe Agricultural Coops in Japan.

Mr. Satoshi Takano, Dy. Director, Management

1st Meeting of the 2008 elected RegionalBoard of ICA-AP held in Tokyo

Planning Department, Zenrosai, Japan made apresentation on the IAS and touched upon theperipheral issues relevant to cooperatives focusingon the basic aspect as to how should we tacklewith the convergence on “Financial Instrumentswith characteristics of Equity” between FASB andIASB?

Mr. Shil Kwan Lee made a presentation on theinterim activity report of ICA AP during first partof year 2009. He also made a presentation on theinterim financial report of ICA-Asia and Pacific for2008 and presented a forecast on the overallfinancial status of ICA-AP during 2009. Hepresented a report on the membership status ofICA AP. Mr. Lee explained about the membershipexpansion strategy and introduced a new brochuretitled “Join ICA” recently published to market thebenefits of joining the ICA network. Mr. Shil KwanLee also announced his decision to retire from theservices of ICA after 31st December 2009. Headvised the members of the Regional Board tosuggest names of suitable candidates to theDirector General of ICA for the appointment ofhis successor.

Group photo of the distinguised participants at the ICA AP Regional Board meeting in Tokyo, Japan

A Special Meeting of the ICA-AP Regional Boardwas held in Beijing, China on October 12,

2009 to transact the agenda of stronger regionalrepresentation of the Asia Pacific region in the ICAGlobal Board and selection of Regional Directorof ICA Asia Pacific region. Regional Board havingunderstood the Euro-centric global board of ICA

Special ICA-AP Regional Board Meeting heldsupported the idea of having strongerrepresentation of the region in the global board.The Director General of ICA shared the detailsabout the process adopted for the recruitment ofRegional Director and announced the name of Dr.Chan Ho CHOI as the next Regional Director ofICA-AP w.e.f. January 2010.

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ICA-AP Regional Board Meeting held at Geneva

(l-r) Mr. G.H. Amin, Vice President, ICA -AP, Mr. Shil Kwan Lee, Regional Director ICA-AP, Mr. Iain Macdonald,

Director General, ICA and Mr. Li Chunsheng, President, ICA-AP

A meeting of the ICA-AP Regional Board washeld in Geneva on Thursday the 19th

November 2009 at the International ConventionCenter, Geneva (Switzerland). Several leaders andofficials of the ICA-AP member cooperativesbesides the members of the Regional Boardattended the meeting. The meeting was chairedby Mr. Li Chunsheng, ACFSMC, China and co-chaired by Mr. G.H. Amin, President, NCUI, India.

Important among the participants were: Mr. Won-Byung Choi, Chairman, NACF, Korea, Mr. SurinderKumar Jakhar, Chairaman IFFCO, Mr. MongkalutPukanut, Chairman, CLT, Thailand, Prof. Dr.Mohammed Ali Baharum, Chairman, ANGKASA,Malaysia, Mr. Nguyen Van Bien, Chairman, VCA,Vietnam, Ms. Dolly Goh, CEO, SNCF, Mr. IainMacdonald, Director General, ICA, Mr. Chan-HoCHOI, General Manager, NACF, Korea - RegionalDirector Select and Mr. Shil Kwan Lee, RegionalDirector, ICA-AP.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Li Chunshengwelcomed all the participating members of the ICA-AP Regional Board. Broaching the objective of themeeting, he highlighted the need of a coordinatedaction by the members of ICA from the Asia pacificregion in the voting for election of members forthe ICA Global Board. He sought cooperation of

the ICA-AP board members in mobilizing effectiveand meaningful voting by the members from APregion. Mr Li Chunsheng extended a warmwelcome to Ms. Dolly the Chief Executive of SNCFand introduced her to the members of the regionalboard.

Mr. Shil Kwan Lee gave a brief account of theactivities carried out by ICA AP during 2009 untilthe end of October 09 and planned for theremaining period. He appreciated the support ofIFFCO in supporting special project on women andyouth empowerment in Sri Lanka and alsosupporting pertinent conference on role ofcooperatives in mitigating the impact of globaleconomic crisis that was held in July in Bangkok.Referring to termination of the AGRITERRA project,he made a mention about the cooperative law inLaos that would soon be passed by the Parliament.He also made a special mention of Mongolia forits networking initiatives for 2012 as the UN yearof cooperatives. He referred to his visits toKazakhstan and Mongolia and mentioned aboutthree new members of the ICA from central Asia.

Mr. Lee briefed about the need of reconstructingthe disaster affected cooperatives in Indonesia andshared the contents of the appeal issued by ICA inthis context.


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

Mr. Rajiv Mehta presented a report on thereconstruction support given to cooperatives inMyanmar and highlighted major interventions.

Mr. Lee also presented the statement ofexpenditure incurred by ICA-AP until the end ofOctober 2009.

Mr. Macdonald appreciated the efforts made byMr. Lee in expanding the membership base of ICAin the Asia Pacific region. He further advised theICA-AP office to explore possibilities of bringingBhutan, Jordon, Yemen, Syria, islands in Fiji and afew more countries from central Asia in thenetwork of ICA.

Highlighting the importance of Arabian countries,Mr. Ali Baharum advised Mr. Lee to induct a stafffluent in Arabic so as to have more members fromGCC countries. Mr. Imbsen offered the services ofICA HO staff till the arrangements are made.

Mr. Li Chunsheng stressed the need of enrollingmore members from the Asia Pacific region of ICA.

Mr. Lee presented the first draft of 2010 budgetand activity plan of ICA-AP.

Mr. Jakhar advised the ICA-AP to pay moreattention on Agriculture cooperatives and soughtsupport of ICA-AP in facilitating a pilot initiative ofMARKFED, Punjab to import agriculture machineryfrom Korea at a subsidized rate. Mr Choi, ChairmanNACF proposed to set up a machinery bank forthe cooperatives.

Mr. Pukanut, Chairman CLT stressed the need ofeducating leaders, bureaucrats and members ofcoop community in Laos and Cambodia to learnabout Thai model of cooperatives so as to washaway their notion about government controlledcoops.

Mr. Ali Baharum desired to have real tradefacilitation by ICA-AP and advised a specialsupplement on trade on the ICA-AP website.

Mr. Li Chunsheng made an impressive presentationon the 9th Regional Assembly of ICA-AP in Bejingin China in September 2010.

Mr. Lee sought permission of the Chair to say goodbye with a special thanks to the Regional Boardmembers. He expressed his deep sense ofappreciation to all the members of ICA from theregion for their kind support and cooperation inmaking his tenure quite successful and rewarding.He advised the leadership of the region to takecoops a step higher by taking best advantage ofthe Asianization process. He reposed his confidencein the team of ICA-AP.

Mr. Li Chunsheng thanked Mr. Lee for his goodrole and requested him to share his valuableexperiences with Dr. Choi in making this regionprogress continuously.

The next meeting of the ICA-AP Regional Boardwas fixed for early April 2010 in Seoul, Korea.

Outgoing Regional Director of ICA-AP, Mr. Shil Kwan Lee being felicitated by incoming Regional Director, Dr. Chan

Ho CHOI

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The 1st ICA Asia Pacific University/CampusCooperative Committee meeting was held in

Bangkok on 13th July 2009. Fifteenrepresentatives from various countries whoparticipated expressed their concept of developinguniversity/campus coops in their respectivecountries.

The delegates desired to see greater participationof youths and students through the network ofthis committee, Malaysian delegate laid emphasison the exchange programs among variousmembers of the university/campus coops indifferent countries for better assimilation ofmanagement practices and service options, Indiandelegate, termed university/campus coops as thelaboratory to prepare next generation coops,Indonesian delegate wished to see experiencedand committed cooperative leaders in themovement through university/campus coops so onso forth.

The membership proposal of Korea was approved

1st ICA Asia-Pacific University/CampusCooperative Committee Meeting

and admitted. The members also approved theManifesto and Constitution of the Committee andalso endorsed the Office Bearers of the Committee.The Chair of the Committee informed aboutsigning a Memorandum of Student Services to theUNESCO World Conference on Higher Educationand referred to last para of the memorandum thatexplicitly set out a stage for the ICA AP Committee.

The plan for 2009-10 was read out and it wasproposed to have the Regional Conference nextyear by July 2010 in Indonesia preferably aroundthe Indonesian Coop Day. He was particularlyconcerned about the sustainability of the activitiesof the committee in the wake of many privateuniversities emerging in various countries. Hesuggested working out local resources for theConference.

Considering the accessibility and resourceavailability the committee chose Indonesia andIndia as two feasible options for the nextConference.

First meeting of the Office Bearers of ICA-AP University/Campus Coop Committee in Bangkok, Thailand


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

ICA-AP Research Committee organises Seminaron “Co-operatives, a Better Business Model”

Mr. Shil Kwan Lee, Regional Director, ICA-AP lighting the lamp at the inauguration of the seminar. Also seen are Dr.

G N Saxena, Mrs. Anita Manchanda and delegates from Thailand and Mauritius

The International Cooperative Alliance-AsiaPacific in collaboration with IFFCO organized a

seminar on ‘Cooperatives – a better BusinessModel: Emerging Opportunities’ from October 23-24, 2009 at FMDI, Gurgaon, India.

The Chief Guest, Mr Shil Kwan Lee, RegionalDirector, ICA Asia Pacific on this occasion said thatcooperatives have by and large remainedunaffected by the global economic crisis, whichotherwise has severely affected the investor ownedcorporate structures. He further said that AMUL,IFFCO, NCCF, Cooperative Banks and state levelcooperatives have continued to achieve high levelof business turnover and profits. The cooperativebusiness model being members owned, membercontrolled and service oriented in nature certainlydeserved to be a preferred form of economicmodels in the context of moral crisis of capitalism.He informed the delegates from five countriesabout the decision of UN to declare year 2012 asyear for cooperatives.

Dr. G.N. Saxena, Chairman of Research Committee

of the ICA Asia Pacific and Director, IFFCO urgedthe cooperative fraternity to give priority tocooperative research and studies in the region, sothat the cooperatives could add on to their strengthand become more competitive in the era ofglobalization. The ICA Research Committee willlook into the problem areas, issues and suggestfeasible solutions to overcome these challenges.

Mr. JNL Srivastava, Ex. Secretary, Agriculture,Government of India delivered his key note speechon the theme of the seminar and dwelled uponthe values that cooperatives adhere to in terms ofdeveloping human capital that remains one of thebiggest challenge before societies at large.

The deliberations at the seminar concluded on thenote that Cooperatives need to showcase theirstrength by sharing success stories of successfulcooperatives to gain confidence of the stakeholdersand policy-makers; and the ICA and NationalCooperative Federations should institute an Awardfor the best ten research papers on cooperatives indifferent sectors.

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The National Co-operative Council of Sri Lankaimplemented the project on Empowerment of

Youth and Women through Cooperatives. Theproject was funded by IFFCO in the spirit of co-operation among co-operatives.

A two day induction training program wasorganized in the premises of NCC, Colombo andthe volunteers cum community facilitatorsattended the program. The ICA-AP helped thevolunteers to understand the scope of the projectand upgrade their skills to carryout base line surveyand awareness camps.

A questionnaire was finalized according totechnical advice of ICA AP and the base line datawas collected in 6 districts, namely, Kegallle (Ke),Kandy (Ka), Badulla (Ba), Kurunegala (Ku),Trincomalee (Tr), Matara (Ma).

The base line survey was successfully carried outby the volunteers and critical informationregarding the youth cooperative leadership wascollected. The surveyors managed to collect datafrom the small groups as well as CBOs alreadyengaged in MFI activities.

The survey was suggestive of the problems ofwomen and youths on account of the lack ofknowledge about governance practices, weakleadership skills, women backwardness and lackof facilities to develop leadership through trainingand education programs. Further it was found thatunflinching leadership and irregular system inelection procedures had added to the woes ofsecond line leadership.

Two Youth Camps were strategically conductedto strengthen and improve the quality of the youthleadership, both young women and men byinvolving different districts representatives at thefield level.

The awareness camps infused great confidenceamong youths and women in cooperative way ofdoing things. The participants learnt the intricaciesof cooperative governance and empowermentpractices including business and spiritualdevelopment and overall balancing of thepersonality.

The participation in the camps was found to bevery effective and empowering.

ICA/IFFCO/NCC Pilot Project on Empowermentof Youth and Women through Cooperatives inSri Lanka

Group photo of the participants of the Youth Camp organised by the NCC, Sri Lanka


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

Mainstreaming of HIV issues in the Educationand Training System of Cooperatives

In 2004, ICA in collaboration with NCUIconducted a National workshop in India, for

sensitization of the cooperative leaders, policymakers, directors and trainers on various aspectsrelated to the spread of HIV/AIDS. In 2006-07, ICAAP with the support of DFID implemented a projectin four states namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujaratand Andhra Pradesh. ICA has also beenimplementing a project “Mainstreaming of HIVissues in the education and training system ofcooperatives” in 11 States (Rajasthan,Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka, Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujaratand Andhra Pradesh) with focus on 7 states inthe first phase initially and 4 states in the secondphase and in totality it would reach out to 230million people.

ICA, along with NCUI and NCCT has beenimplementing a project on HIV/AIDS to holisticallyaddress and sustain the burden of HIV/AIDS.

The first phase (Jan 2009-July 09) of the project

was implemented and had three criticalcomponents - Sensitization Workshops, Trainingof Trainers and Awareness Campaigns for thecooperative leaders; out of which sensitizationworkshops had been successfully carried out inthe respective seven targeted states of the countrycovering about 400 cooperative leaders anddecision makers.

Fifty co-operative leaders in seven states fromprimary, district, and state level co-operativesactively participated in the workshop. The projectstrived to create an enabling environment withinthe National and State level Co-operativeleadership and training system to mainstream HIVconcerns and issues in the mandate of Co-operatives.

This initiative of ICA proved to be a serious attemptto provide a platform to the co-operative leadersand policy makers to discuss openly on the factsabout the disease and make policy decisions toimplement all effective means of prevention.

Participants of HIV/AIDS Awarenes Workshop in Manipur, India

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Mission Report – Bangladesh

Members of the Board of Management of BJSU with the DRD, ICA-AP

The Dy. Regional Director of the ICA Asia Pacific,Mr. Rajiv I.D. Mehta, visited Dhaka, Bangladesh

from 21 to 24 December 2009 to meet the newlyelected board members of Bangladesh JatiyaSamabaya Union (BJSU) and also to meet the highranking officials of the government dealing withcooperatives in Bangladesh.

The background of the visit was a long silence fromthe BJSU and their non-participation in many ofICA’s important events. The following was theoutcome of the mission:

1. BJSU had not paid ICA’s membershipsubscription consecutively for two years andthe matter was taken up with the membersof the newly elected board members underthe leadership of Mr. S.K. Nadir Hossain Lipu.The membership subscription of ICA isconventionally routed through the Registrarof Cooperatives. The board agreed to paythe overdue subscription in two installments.First they will clear dues for 2009, approx9000 CHF and then the remaining 5000 CHFoverdue amount would be released in amonth. The Registrar of cooperative after along discussion agreed to canalize thisamount. A meeting was also held with theSecretary to the Government before meetingthe Registrar.

2. In an effort to expand ICA’s membership basein Bangladesh, meetings were held with the

elected leaders and officials of Coop Bank,Milk Vita. The interaction was quitemeaningful and conclusive. Both bigcooperative organizations made up their mindto apply for the membership of ICA. Thematter would soon be placed before theirrespective boards. The Government has alsowelcomed the idea of more members of ICAfrom Bangladesh.

3. At the advice of the Registrar, a visit was madeto Kingshuk Multi-purpose Coop and aninstant workshop was arranged on the roleof ICA in mobilizing the interests ofcooperatives at global level. The workshopwas attended by more than 50 officials andnon-officials of the cooperative. The CEO ofthe cooperative explained in detail aboutmany innovative interventions done by thecoop for setting up economically viable andsocially rewarding ventures like AutorickshawCoop, CNG Gas Station, Plant Nursery ofOrnamental Plants, School for the children ofCoop Community, Boutique for the productsof Women Groups, Micro Finance and afunctional R&D unit. They finally showedimmense interest in becoming ICA’s member.The leaders of the BJSU showed a keen desireto visit ICA-AP Office in New Delhi to seekspecial support in the development ofcooperatives in Bangladesh by using ICA-APNetwork.


ICA ASIA PACIFIC

ICA’s Co-operative Reconstruction support byICA for Cyclone Affected Coops in Myanmar

Chairman of the disaster affected Cooperative near Yangon, Myanmar welcoming DRD, ICA-AP at the

reconstructed poultry shed

The disaster that struck Myanmar on 2 and 3May 2008 in the form of cyclonic winds and

rainfall killed 150,000 persons and displaced over2 million populations. 395 co-operatives insouthern and south-eastern Myanmar faced thewrath of the disaster. In all 259 members of thesecooperatives died and 8544 were renderedhomeless.

ICA, in response to its call to global cooperativefraternity, received a generous support from a fewof its member cooperatives for the revival of mostaffected and marginalized cooperatives inMyanmar.

The Central Co-operative Society (CCS) Myanmaridentified 09 most marginalized primary coops, 6in Yangon area and 3 in the Ayarwaddy Delta area,for direct reconstruction support. Besides, twomajor interventions one the Conference onCooperative Development in Myanmar andanother Lessons Learned Workshop were alsocarried out jointly by ICA AP and the CCS.

CCS and the Unions of Coop Syndicate in Yangonand Ayarwaddy conducted the survey andidentified following needs of each identified coop:

• Rice Mill Repair and Three wheeler in Pyapon,Mawlamyaing

• Repair of office building in Pyapon &Mawlamyaing in Ayarwaddy

• Reconstruction of Salt Iodization Unit &distribution of safety kits to salt workers inLubutta, Ayarwaddy

• Reconstruction of Poultry unit in Tamwe &Kayan in Yangon

• Roofing and walting of warehouses inKunchankone and Kawmu in Yangon

• Storage unit, Deep Freezer and Hand Tiller inKawmu, Seikgyi Kha Naungto and KyaukTann in Yangon

• Additional support in the form of equipments,machines and office furniture.

The coop development conference was conductedat the national level with the sole objective ofgarnering policy support from the Governmentof Myanmar for promoting co-operatives as analternative of significance.

Considering the importance of community inmitigating the impact of disaster, lessons learnedworkshop was organized on 16 December 2009.The workshop was attended by the officers ofcooperative department, leaders, managers andmembers of affected cooperatives and officials ofCCS.

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A grateful Asia Pacific Cooperative Movementpays homage to Mr. Ivano Barberini

FLORAL TRIBUTES BY

Mr. G.H. Amin,

President, National

Cooperative Union of India –

Vice-President, ICA-AP

Regional Board

Mr. Surinder Kumar Jakhar,

Chairman, Indian Farmers

Fertilizer Cooperative – ICA

Global Board member

A view of the mourning

silence observed by the

leaders of Indian cooperative

movement

annual report 2009-10 (corrected) - ica-ap.coopica-ap.coop/sites/ica-ap.coop/files/2009 annual...

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