In July 2019, Mr. Ariel Guarco, President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) visited the Asia-Pacific region and interact with ICA members and government officials in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Korea and Japan. In line with ICA’s 2030 strategy, President Guarco’s message to members across the Asia-Pacific region during his travels was: “We have to represent and build relations with international organisations, at the same time, we need to identify the common issues across countries and see how we can address these.” More on his visit can be found at: Travels with ICA President 2.0
President Guarco continued these engagements by visiting ICA members and key stakeholders in Malaysia and the Philippines in February 2020. The travel to Malaysia was kick-started by opening the Global Youth Forum: Cooperative Entrepreneurship 2020 (#GYF20) in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The Forum brought together over 150 young entrepreneurs and professionals from more than 50 countries from around the world, to improve their skills and knowledge and motivate them to enhance youth cooperative entrepreneurship. President Guarco in his address said, "Young people are not the future of the movement. They must be the present, because the urgent problems of today mean the future of our movement and our civilization is at stake." President Dato Fattah from Angkasa; Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari, Chief Minister Sarawak; and Datuk Abdul Karim, Minister for Youth and Sports, Sarawak, recognised the importance of building networks, the cooperative business model, and the need to promote cooperatives among the youth as a resilient and inclusive model. The resounding message to the youth of GYF20 was "Go for Cooperatives!"
After the Opening of GYF20 in Kuching, Mr. Guarco went on to engage with ICA members and stakeholders in Malaysia, including Angkasa, Cooperative Institute of Malaysia, National Land Finance Coop Society Limited, Cooperative Commission of Malaysia, Ministry of Development of Entrepreneurs and Cooperatives and others. The discussions resonated with the principle of cooperation among cooperatives. Mr. Guarco succinctly said, “the cooperative movement can form a better and peaceful global environment through close cooperation of cooperative members around the world”. The Malaysian cooperative movement has come a long way (see country snapshots) and is expected to increase its contribution to the economy from 50 billion to $100 billion.
Next on Mr. Guarco’s travel was the Philippines. Mr. Guarco was given a public welcome at the Philippines Senate with majority leader Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri. Mr. Guarco’s meeting with the Philippines Cooperative Center, Cooperative Development Authority, NATCCO, MASS-SPEC, VICTO, Metro South Cooperative Bank, AIMCoop, 1CISP, FPSDC, ULSCC, and other established federations in the Philippines, confirmed the solidarity of Philippine cooperatives with the three million cooperatives worldwide. As stated by the PCC in the Manila Times, “Philippine coops are a growing force in the Philippine economy and will definitely have more positive impact on the socio-economic and socio-political landscape”.
Mr. Guarco’s visit to the Philippines is viewed to boost the recognition of the Philippines cooperative movement (see: Philippine country snapshot). During his engagement with Key ICA members and stakeholders in the Philippines, Mr. Guarco reiterated the people-centred nature of cooperative businesses, “We are a movement that puts persons in the centre of development, and there is no substitute to meeting people face-to-face...we are a people-centred economy, and we are speaking about ourselves. Coops are the economy in the hands of the people.” Keeping in line with the ICA 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Philippine cooperative movement led by ICA members in the country has set its agenda to create the ‘ideal frame of mind towards the new vision for 2030’.
