New Cooperatives Decline in Iran

EghtesadOnline: A total of 228 new cooperatives were registered in Iran during the sixth month of the current Iranian year (August 23-Sept. 22), showing a 29% decline compared with the corresponding period of last year, the latest report released by the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare's Statistics and Strategic Data Center shows.

News ID: ۷۸۴۹۱۵

05 October 2019

The aggregate initial investments made in the new cooperatives reached 75 billion rials ($657,895).

They have a total of 5,736 members and are estimated to create 3,956 jobs, indicating a 43% rise and a 12% fall respectively YOY.

The highest number of cooperatives was registered in the provinces of Fars and Bushehr with 23 and 22 respectively, according to Financial Tribune.

The largest number of cooperatives was registered in the fields of “industries” (64) and “agriculture” (61).

The fields of “agriculture” and “properties for rent and business activities” had the largest number of members with 1,759 and 1,567 respectively.

The sectors of “industries” and “other general and social services” are expected to create the highest number of jobs with 914 and 760 respectively.

A cooperative is a jointly-owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supply of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers or farmers. Cooperative businesses are typically more economically resilient than many other forms of enterprise, with twice the number of cooperatives surviving their first five years compared with other business ownership models. Cooperatives frequently pursue social goals by investing a proportion of trading profits back into their communities.

The parliament has tasked the government with increasing the share of cooperatives in gross domestic product to 25% by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (2022).

The current share of cooperatives in GDP is about 7%, according to Bahman Abdollahi, the head of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives.