The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran held the third international webinar "Experience of Successful Models of Clustering and Networking in Cooperative Businesses in Selected Countries", on 5 July 2021. The event was organised by the Department of Cooperative Extension, Education and Research within the Deputy Office for Cooperatives, Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare. Over 15 participants attended the event, representing the cooperative sectors of France, Italy, Spain, China, India, and the ICA-AP office.
From the Asia and Pacific region, All-China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC), the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), and the ICA-AP office shared their experiences. NCUI presented the role of cooperative supporting institutions in creating and developing cooperative clusters in India. ACFSMC explained the methods of supporting the clustering of cooperative businesses in China. Both organisations described successful experiences of economic value chains by networks and cooperative clusters.
Mr. Mohit Dave, Programme Manager, ICA-AP shared the significance of creating cooperative clusters in rural development and increasing the share of the cooperative sector in the selected countries from Asia-Pacific. He used specific cases to highlight the social impact of cooperative clusters on member cooperatives as well as in industry growth and job creation.
The webinar was useful as it shared the successful experiences of countries in business development policies and planning for the creation of clusters and value chains of cooperatives. It helped develop an understanding of the appropriate model for economic activities in the cooperative sector by examining the methods of creating clusters and networking.
