Senior official stresses key role played by cooperatives in development plans
EghtesadOnline: A senior official at the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare of Iran has said that Tehran has always been giving due attention to cooperatives and their role in employment, creation and re-creation of wealth and social-economic opportunities.
Deputy Minister for Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare of Iran Seyed Hamid Kalantari made the remarks in his address to the 10th Asia and Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam.
He stated that the emphasis given in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperative economy as the second economic sector indicates the great importance given to the issue by Tehran, according to IRNA.
He added, currently, more than 95,000 cooperatives run active businesses at country level in various economic sectors and sub-sectors, with a significant share, particularly in the field of agriculture, development, transportation, industry, services and consumer.
“The unique cooperative potentials have increasingly attracted attention of the incumbent Administration in the two main priority areas of its policymaking,” Kalantari added.
In his speech titled “Technical and Strategic Prerequisites in Government Policymaking on Cooperatives” he said adding that the developing countries seek to take advantage of cooperative mechanism and its distinctive properties as an instrument to achieve sustainable development.
“The Ministry particularly during the recent years, has been well aware of the importance of this issue by reviewing theoretical and experimental records, and in order to create a conducive environment to establish any participatory affiliation with cooperatives, has adopted and implemented “seven critical strategies to evolve Iranian cooperative economic sector,” he added.
According to Kalantari, the aim of the first and second strategies is to “promote cooperative culture, develop management and empower cooperative human resources”.
He added that presently, cooperatives have proved their ability, in theory and practice, to attain innovative means by nature, and consequently, to enable individuals to be organized in form of cooperatives and to gain required technical competencies in order to enter into markets.
Vietnam is hosting the 10th Asia-Pacific Cooperative Ministers' Conference in its capital Hanoi from April 18-21.
The conference attracted over 500 participants from various countries including I.R. of Iran as well as international cooperatives and organizations.