The Ministry of Economy (MoEc), United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA) through its Asia and Pacific Regional Office have signed a cooperation agreement to develop and strengthen the cooperative sector in the country.

The UAE Government is looking at the development of the cooperative sector as one of its economic priorities for the next seven years. It seeks to develop a sound, robust and sustainable cooperative sector that actively contributes to its GDP while demonstrating the ability to respond to the economic and social needs of the community and to fulfil the objectives of UAE Centennial 2071.

In response to the UAE Government's call of Fostering the Cooperative Sector in the UAE, MoEc has partnered with ICA-AP. With technical support from the ICA, led by its Asia and Pacific Regional Office, the project will support the Government and the cooperatives by drafting a New Cooperative Law and its Executive Order and developing a National Cooperative Strategy, with the main objective to increase the contribution of cooperatives to the country’s GDP from current <1% to 5% by 2031.

Our team of experts took part in a project kick-off meeting on 25 May with government officials and cooperative leaders from across the UAE.

The event featured His Excellency Abdullah Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry, who highlighted the sector’s role in achieving sustainable development and diversifying the economy. He said the ministry would continue to work closely with cooperatives to develop a long-term strategy for the sector as well as amend existing cooperative legislation.

Ms. Samah Al Hajeri, Director of Cooperatives & Strategic Reserve, said cooperatives would be consulted throughout the process of developing the strategy and amending cooperative legislation to make sure it aligned with the needs of the cooperative sector and the government.

Participants also heard from the ICA-AP’s team of advisors. Prof Hüsein Polat, Senior Advisor for Strategy & Policy, and Mr. Mohit Dave, Head-Partnerships & Resource Mobilisation ICA-AP presented the project framework highlighting the role of stakeholders in providing feedback for the strategy.

Mr. Santosh Kumar, Director of Legislation at the ICA, and Prof Hagen Henrÿ, International Legal Expert, offered an overview of cooperative legislation around the world while answering questions from the audience regarding the UAE’s own legal framework.

Drs Robby Tulus, Senior Advisor for Capacity Building, emphasised the role of training and education in helping to strengthen and grow the cooperative sector, giving examples of his work in various Asian countries.

Ms. Anca Voinea, Advisor for Communications, focused on communicating the cooperative competitive advantage and shared ideas for awareness-raising initiatives that cooperatives could carry out to raise their profiles.

The meeting also heard from cooperative leaders, who shared their views of the suggested proposals.

The ICA-AP team will continue to engage with various stakeholders and will be undertaking visits to local cooperatives.