The ICA-AP Committee on Trade & Business, in collaboration with the ASEAN Cooperative Organization (ACO) and the Malaysian Cooperative Movement (ANGKASA) organized the Cooperative to Cooperative (C-2-C) Trade & Business Conference from November 30 to December 1 at the Grand Millennium Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This collaboration is in line with the 6th Cooperative Principle: Cooperation among Cooperatives. 75 participants from 23 cooperatives and 10 countries – Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam shared best practices, success stories and experiences in the cooperatives movement. The theme of the conference was Demand vs. Opportunities: Bridging the Gap through Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9) and focused on the agriculture, consumer and financial sectors as these have a considerable cooperative presence.
The conference aimed to encourage cooperatives to embrace the spirit of SDG 9; support domestic technology development, research and innovation by ensuring a conducive policy environment for industrial diversification and value addition to commodities; serve as a platform to exchange skills, knowledge and cooperation in trade and business among cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific and Southeast Asian regions, especially in food security; and revisit the role of the agriculture, consumer, and financial sectors in boosting innovation in the cooperative sector.
In line with the 2030 Agenda, the involvement of young people in international cooperative trade is highly emphasised as they become the backbone of global economic development in the future. Young people are frequently associated with innovation because they have new ideas and are more comfortable with digital technology than older generations.
In conjunction with the conference, an official dinner was held with all the international and local participants. Present at the dinner were the Secretary General of the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, and Cooperatives (KUSKOP), YBhg. Dato' Suriani Binti Dato' Ahmad; ANGKASA President and ICA-AP Vice President, Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Fattah Abdullah; ICA-AP Regional Director, Mr Balasubramanian Iyer; Executive Deputy Chairman of the Malaysian Cooperative Commission (SKM), Mr. Rusli Jaafar; Deputy Director General of Human Capital Development of the Malaysian Cooperative Institute (IKMa), Mr. Mohd Zaib Mat Yunus; and Deputy President of ANGKASA, Associate Professor Dato' Dr Haji Abdul Rahman Abdul Razak Shaik.
ANGKASA Board Members who were also present were Dato' Haji Kamarudin Ismail, Dr. Mohd. Azlan Yahya, Dato' Haji Che Mohd. Shukree Che Isa, Chairman of the ANGKASA State Relations Committee of the Federal Territory, Datuk Haji Abdul Razak Hussain, Chief Executive Officer of the ANGKASA Group, Dato' Haji Abdullah Haji Jusoh, Corporate Advisor (Government Sector), Datuk Ahmad Jamil Hashim (Cooperative Sector) and Corporate Advisor (Cooperative Sector), Datuk Haji Md. Yusof Haji. Samsudin.
The participants also enjoyed a coop and city tour. The visited the coop KOSAS BERHAD (Koperasi Serbaguna Anak-anak Selangor Berhad) and places around Kuala Lumpur such as ANGKASA Museum, Batu Caves, National Mosque, National Palace, Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC).
MBO Council Meeting
The ICA-AP Office organized the MBO Council Meeting on 29 November in a hybrid manner. All the seconding organizations to the MBO presented their Activity Report for 2022 and the Activity Plan and Budget for 2023. The meeting was attended in person by MBO members from Malaysia and Korea while those from China and Japan attended online.
