The ICA/EU Partnership program on co-operatives in development, organized the Asia Pacific workshop on Industrial and Service Co-operatives during the 12th Regional Assembly in New Delhi. The workshop was a follow-up to the Stakeholders Meeting on Collective Entrepreneurship organized in Kozhikode (India) in August this year. The workshop was attended by over 30 delegates from India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, and Philippines.

Mr. Bruno Roelants and Mr. Hyungsik Eum of CICOPA, the ICA sectoral organization on industrial and service co-operatives, facilitated the workshop as knowledge partners. Case studies were presented by the Korean Federation of Workers Co-operatives, the Japanese Co-operative Workers Union, and the Labor Co-operative Unions from the Philippines and India. The Iranian Chamber of Co-operatives discussed the potential to organize industrial and service co-operatives in their country. Drs. Robby Tulus, former ICA-AP Asia Pacific Regional Director shared the nature of circumstances of workers’ movements and co-operatives in Indonesia. The participants from India included the ULCCS, ActionAid India, Books for Change, and the Kerala State Labor Co-operative Federation. The half day workshop resulted in commitment to develop thematic research projects and strategize the formation of networks representative of ‘work and co-operatives’. Earlier in August, ICA-AP had a consultative engagement and meetings on the subject matter with the ILO Sri Lanka office, SANASA Federation, National Federation of Handicrafts Co-operatives, Sri Lanka Consumer Co-operative Societies Federation the National Co-operative Council of Sri Lanka, and the EU Delegation for Sri Lanka and Maldives, in Colombo.