It gives me immense pleasure to convey my greetings and congratulation to the delegates of the 54th Annual General Meeting of the National Federation of University Co-operative Associations in Japan, in the occasion of its 54th Anniversary on 19th December, 2010!

University co-operative movement in Japan has been worldwide well-known by its long history and remarkable achievements; by its excellent modeling in serving for the all sorts of consumers’ needs of students and faculties; by its vital contributions in the community agenda; and by its leading roles in the ICA cooperation.

To this fact, your cooperators in the Universities can be proud of very much, and for that I would like to congratulate again this year’s celebration of NFUCA. Your accomplishments and your best practices always remind us that University is not mere a school but is the vital sector of cooperation and the place of cooperative academia.

International society should aware the fact that over 1 billion individuals in the world have chosen cooperatives for their daily life and ultimately for their socio-economic aspirations, and over 600 million members in the Asia-Pacific region. In the contemporary society of globe, cooperatives have proven to be one of the most significant alternative instrument and drivers in the market oriented economic scenario. One should also know that co-operatives provide over 100 million jobs around the world, 20% more than multinational enterprises. For the young generation, cooperatives should be well recognized as the most effective mode of enterprise in creating the decent jobs at large.

This year is also indeed meaningful for NFUCA to hold its General Meeting at a time when ICA Asia-Pacific completes 50 years. University cooperative movement of Japan has contributed at large in the development of this important sector of cooperation in the region. Being separated from the ICA Consumer Committee, the University/Campus Cooperative Committee of ICA Asia- Pacific was officially organized by the leads of the Japanese movement in the ICA Regional Assembly in December 2008 in Hanoi. In this regard, we all know that there had been the great efforts of Prof. Kôkichi Shoji, the President of NFUCA to moving forward this new Committee into the new age. I am sure that the Committee will be accelerated more to promote, strengthen and spread the university/campus cooperatives in the region.

I am also very much confident that this Annual meeting of University Cooperatives in Japan will contribute much not only promoting their appeal and empowering university co-ops to accommodate the demands of students and faculties, but also to the development of better universities and society as a whole. Again congratulation and thank you very much!

Chan Ho CHOI, PhD
Regional Director, ICA Asia-Pacific
December 2010, New Delhi