The ICA-AP held its Regional Board Meeting online on 23rd February 2021. The Board began by observing a minute silence in the memory of Mr. Kwek Kok Kwong (Singapore) and Royal Professor Ungku A. Aziz (Malaysia) whom we lost in November 2020.

The board ratified the nomination of Mr Tng Ah Yiam, Chairman, Singapore National Cooperative Federation (SNCF). Mr Tng Ah Yiam introduced himself and said that he is honored to join the  Board as SNCF’s nominee and looking forward to continuing Mr. Kwek’s efforts.

The key agenda for the meeting included discussions on – deconsolidation of ICA-AP financial accounts,  sub-regional office for Arab countries, and the status of subscription fees.  Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP presented the discussions that had taken place at the  ICA Global Board on the deconsolidation of ICA Africa accounts. The Global Board postponed the decision as it needed more time to consider the issue. Mr. Iyer said that this provided the opportunity for the AP board to also present its views. The Board deliberated on the letter circulated by Mr. Li Chunsheng on the issue, the proposal written by the Director General and the presentation made by the Regional Director. While deconsolidation is an accounting issue, there are implications on regional finances, board oversight and nature of relation with ICA. The Board decided to form a five-member committee to look into the issue and its implications on the region and present its findings at the next board meeting.    

The ICA Africa office as part of its strategy, plans to open a sub-regional office with its member, General Authority of Construction and Housing Cooperatives (CHC) in Cairo, Egypt to cover North Africa. Mr. Iyer said that preliminary discussions have been held to cover Arab Countries Region (ACR, according to Arab League) in Africa & Asia.  The 22 ACR countries have a shared culture, heritage, language, and history. The ACR countries is a region where more work needs to be done in terms of increasing members and retaining members. The benefits of a sub-regional office would be to: promote ICA in the ACR, help communicate and act as information hub, explore joint activities and programs, and advocate with governments and regional bodies. The Board agreed in principle and requested the office to start pilot activities to see how the relationship works and to better understand the terms of relationship.

Mr. Iyer presented the current membership and subscription fee situation. ICA-AP currently has 111 members from 32 countries. He thanked the members for paying the fee despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and requested members who had not, to pay their subscription fee on time.

The Chairperson of the Women’s Committee, Dr. Nandini Azad, presented the newsletter and highlighted the activities carried out by the committee in 2020. The Chairperson of the Youth Committee, Mr. Ahsan, also presented a brief activity report and informed the board about the certificate distribution ceremony being held for the Go-Green Campaign participants. Mr. Alireza from ICC shared a few highlights of 2020. The efforts of both the committees were much appreciated by Mr Li Chunsheng.

Mr. Iyer invited the board members to the 14th ICA-AP Regional Assembly and informed them about the agenda of the assembly. The next Regional Board Meeting will be held in-person on November 29, 2021 in Seoul.