Multilateral Asia Pacific Co-op sessions open in Colombo

From left: Visiting India Pondichery Minister of Social Welfare, Co-Operatives M. Kandasamy and Sri Lanka’s COOPYES and NEDAC Vice-Chairman M.S.M. Riyas look on as Bangkok-headquartered NEDAC Chairman Sundeep Kumar Nayak (third from left) hands over a souvenir to Sri Lanka’s State Minister of International Co-operation Susil Premajayntha at the NEDAC/EXCOM session inauguration event at Galadari, Colombo, on 12 December 

• “President’s vision is to empower youth” – Minister Premajayantha
• “Sharing co-op experiences” – NEDAC Chairman Nayak
• Sri Lanka co-operatives has a membership of 8 million

A high-level Asia Pacific Co-operative executive committee session opened at Galadari, Colombo, on 12 December, with significant emphasis on the engagement of youth in co-operatives. “I am pleased to represent the Government of Sri Lanka this morning at the launch of Annual Executive Committee Meeting of Network for the Development of Agricultural Co-operatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC). This is the second NEDAC/EXCOM meeting to be held in Sri Lanka since 2014. Sri Lanka is honoured by NEDAC’s decision to hold it in Colombo for the second time,” said the State Minister of International Co-operation Susil Premajayntha on 12 December. 

Addressing the launch event of the NEDAC executive committee meeting, Minister Premajayantha added: “President Gotabaya Rajapakse is focused on fulfilling many responsibilities for future generations, hone their skills and empower them. Given that a considerable number of the co-operative members are youth, this is a very important development for our co-operative sector.” 

The Network for the Development of Agricultural Co-operatives in Asia and the Pacific (NEDAC) is headquartered in Bangkok and is the unique regional forum linking 21 apex co-operative organisations from 12 countries. Its beginning was truly multilateral; NEDAC is a result of the collaboration of three giants in 1991 – the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Only two organisations from Sri Lanka are members of NEDAC – the Department of Co-operative Development and the Co-operative Youth Empowerment Society (COOPYES).

Joining the event were India Pondichery Social Welfare, Co-Operatives and Consumer Affairs Minister M. Kandasamy, NEDAC Chairman Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Sri Lanka’s COOPYES Chairman and NEDAC Vice-Chairman M.S.M. Riyas, National Co-operatives Commission Chairman Lalith Peris and Sri Lanka Co-Operative Development Commissioner and Co-Operative Societies Registrar Suvinda S. Singapuli. Co-operative representatives from India, Thailand, Nepal, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Kenya were present for the two-day sessions.

“The membership in our co-operative system has around eight million Sri Lankans,” said NEDAC Vice-Chairman Riyas, “Therefore when we talk of co-operatives, we are talking of a very large economic sector membership in Sri Lanka. There is a strong youth and women membership within this eight million. COOPYES was founded to uplift the youth in the process. We expect COOPYES to play a key role in enlisting youth to our Co-operatives in future. Even though NEDAC began for agricultural co-operatives, today it expanded to include co-operatives in many other sectors too.” 

NEDAC Chairman Sundeep Kumar Nayak said that the latest Colombo sessions are aimed at sharing co-operative experiences. “Also to review the progress, and to prepare work plans for 2020.”