Union Minister for Commerce and Industries Shri Piyush Goyal called for discipline and professionalism in the cooperative sector. He also recalled while addressing the closing ceremony of ‘India International Cooperative Trade Fair’ (IICTF) in New Delhi that the foundation of the cooperative movement was laid by Sardar Patel. The Minister expressed happiness that the foot fall at the IICTF was more than 35,000 and trade enquires amounted to more than 4000. Stating that there should be an International framework for expansion of the cooperatives Shri Goyal gave ideas on how indigenous and ethnic products produced by cooperatives can be marketed on e-commerce platforms.
Over one billion people around the world are associated with cooperatives. More than 12% of humanity is part of any of the 3 million cooperatives in the world. Financial cooperatives serve 13 per cent of the world population while agricultural cooperatives produce 50 per cent of global agriculture output implying immense potential that exists in the sector for global trade.
A total of 75 MoUs were signed during the 3 day event. Thematic sessions were held on Empowerment of Youth and Women through Cooperatives, Agro-processing Ecosystem through Cooperatives, Globalisation of Cooperative Trade, Cooperative Banking and Financial Inclusion, Agri-Tech and Climate Smart Agriculture through cooperatives, Cooperatives as Cost Effective and Efficient Service providers, Big Data and Cyber Security in Cooperative Sector, Dairy Cooperative Opportunities for Value Addition and Trade and Farm Mechanisation and Inputs Supply- Role of Cooperatives.
In line with Government’s focus on programmes like Start-up India and Stand-up India aimed at young entrepreneurs with new and innovative ideas, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has formulated Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme 2019 which was also launched at the fair. Sahakar Bharati, the single largest organisation focusing on enlightening masses about the benefit of cooperative movement also show cased and launched their brand ‘Simplydesi’ which will provide good marketing and branding opportunities for cooperatives.
