A joint webinar was organised by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC) between cooperatives from Iran and the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC) and Malaysian National Cooperative Movement (ANGKASA) on 9th September 2020.
The webinar was held to introduce the Iranian cooperators to ACFSMC and ANGKASA and vice-versa and to explore potential cooperation between cooperatives from China, Iran, and Malaysia. ICA-AP staff members were invited as speakers and key observers. This meeting was the second in a series of discussions organised by the ICC, with the first being with ICA-AP.
Senior representatives from 10 Iranian cooperatives (ICA-AP members) participated in the webinar. These included ICC, Central Organisation for Rural Cooperatives of Iran (CORC), Central Union of state Rural Production Cooperatives of Iran (CURPC), Supervision and Coordination Central Union of Rural and Agricultural Cooperatives of Iran (SCURA), Central Union of Rural and Agricultural Cooperatives of Iran (CURACI), Tose'e Ta'avon Bank (T.T. Bank), Iran Oilseeds and Vegetable Oil Processing Factories Cooperative (Farda Co-op), Taavon Insurance Co., and Pishgaman Cooperative Union (PCU).
On behalf of the Iranian cooperative movement, Mr. Alireza Banaeifar, International Affairs Manager, ICC welcomed the guests and presided over the proceedings. In the first half of the meeting, members from Iran presented a comprehensive overview of the cooperative movement in the country, their organisations, and business activities pursued by them cooperatives in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, rural development, communications, and information technology (IT). Cooperatives in Iran contribute about 7% to the national GDP (as of 2018). Agriculture is the second-largest sector for cooperatives in the country. As of 2018, there were more than 22,000 agriculture-based cooperatives with over 300,000 members and more than 200,000 employees.
Mr. Mohammadreza ShahPasand, Deputy President, CORC invited ACFSMC and ANGKASA to visit Iran and observe the vast agricultural cooperative network in the country. Mr. Jalil Eskandari from CURACI spoke about the expanding rural and agricultural cooperative unions in Iran which have over 5 million members. He noted that CURACI has two agro-industrial organisations which are ready to engage in international business such as the export of saffron, and joint ventures with China, Malaysia, and other ICA-AP members on agricultural projects. Saffron, dates, fruits, and oilseeds are among the most lucrative agricultural products that Iranian cooperatives produce in large quantities and export to international markets.
Mr. Zhang Wangshu, Director General, International Cooperation Department, ACFSMCF spoke about the Chinese cooperative movement, the role of ACFSMC, and a wide range of member services undertaken by them. Some of their highlighted services are – strengthening the distribution network to connect distribution centres; wholesale markets and grassroots chain stores; build logistic parks and cold storage facilities; develop e-commerce; set up crop hospitals; provide training to members.
Mr. Nasir Khan Yahaya, Group CEO, ANGKASA introduced the Malaysian cooperative movement and spoke about the role of cooperatives in Malaysia’s economy in the context of National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030. Mr. Yahaya noted that cooperative training and education are the most important functions of ANGKASA as even though cooperatives keep getting formed in Malaysia, they need to know about the cooperative identity, principles, and values.
Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer commended ICC’s initiative to understand ICA-AP and its members and to explore possibilities of cooperation among cooperatives (principle 6) in the Asia-Pacific region. It was noted that such initiatives have the potential to bridge the geographic divide between cooperatives and to foster unity, business-linkages, and cooperation in the region. He urged members to involve youth in the cooperative movement, promote women’s participation at cooperative leadership and decision-making levels, and embrace digital technology.
Following the exchange of knowledge and discussion on potential collaboration between ICA-AP members vis-à-vis export of agricultural products from Iran and research projects, Mr. Banaeifar officially declared the webinar closed with the positive proposal of establishing B2B and C2C cooperative packages between Asia-Pacific cooperatives.
