Mr Ivano Barberini, President ICA together with his wife Mrs Nerina Girbetini visited India from 8th to 12 February 2009 in response to the invitations extended by Hon’ble Captain Kanwal Jeet Singh, Cooperative Minister of Punjab, Government of Punjab to inaugurate the National Conference on Revival of Rural Cooperative Credit in India in Chandigarh on 9th February and Mr G.D. Amin, President of National Cooperative Union of India to deliver Vaikunth Bhai Mehta Memorial Lecture in New Delhi on 12th February.

The National Conference on Revival of Rural Cooperative Credit in India was chaired by Honorable Chief Minister of Punjab and attended by Hon’ble Cooperative Minister of Punjab, Hon’ble Co-operative Ministers from various States of India, Cooperative Leaders, Distinguished Heads of the Government Departments of Cooperatives in various states of India, Members of the National Cooperative Agriculture & Rural Development Banks’ Federation of India, Special Invitees from Government of India, National Cooperative Development Corporation and National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development.

While inaugurating the conference, Mr Barberini extended greetings on behalf of global cooperative fraternity and also congratulated the organizers and the Government of Punjab under the leadership of Chief Minister Mr Prakash Singh Baadal for organizing this conference at the right time.

Mr Barberini focused his speech on the role of financial institutions especially cooperative banks in recovering from the economic crisis and termed this economic crisis as the moral crisis of capitalism.

He referred to the contributions made by great philosophers and scholars like 1. Adam Smith, the Scottish economist and philosopher, who laid down the basis for classic political economy, and believed that the free market should have included values such as solidarity, generosity and the idea of the state, rather than only pursuing the goal to achieve a maximum profit, 2. Robert Owen, the father of cooperative philosophy, who gave the idea of mutual trust and solidarity and 3. Nobel Prize Winner for Economics, Amarthya Sen, who recommended intelligent and humane use of the notion of cooperation” because market economy was heavily dependent on the psychological mechanism of reciprocal trust and cooperative growth and labelled lack of reciprocal trust as one of the most serious and evident causes of the present economic crisis, and recovering from this distrust would be a key factor for economic recovery.

Mr Barberini also said that the cooperatives had understood that they must be competitive with the best companies. He referred to following set of guidelines for an assured success of cooperative enterprises:

- Long term vision should be combined with a business strategy containing day-to-day common sense and competitiveness with a strong identity;
- The organizational structure be such that it improves efficiency and effectiveness of the cooperative institution;
- All the resources like human, financial, and social be used optimally and managed professionally, and that too in the right balance.

The cooperative enterprise in his understanding ought to be designed for continuity and innovation.

Mr Barberini also addressed the press and media and termed cooperatives as the antidote to economic recession.

Mr Barberini also responded to the request of Hon’ble Cooperative Minister of Punjab for signing a Memorandum of Understanding between Department of Co-operatives, Government of Punjab, India & International Co-operative Alliance for the functioning of an International Center for Promotion and Development of Co-operatives in Punjab to benefit the cooperatives engaged in exports of food and agricultural commodities in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttrarakhand states in northern India.

The main purpose of signing the MoU was to create a nodal agency that provides technical advice to the governments for the creation of favorable policy environment for the development of cooperatives, facilitates necessary improvements in the cooperative legislation for better regulation of the cooperatives, is seen as the organization capable of catalyzing & mobilizing thought churning process on relevant contextual issues affecting co-operatives so as to serve the cooperative communities well, compete with MNCs and survive successfully in the competitive market economy.

Later Mr Barberini also had a private dinner with Mr Surinder Kumar Jakhar the Chairman of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperatives at his residence in Chandigarh and exchanged his thoughts on the role of cooperatives in bolstering rural economy by referring to the success stories of IFFCO and AMUL in India.

On the 12 February 2009, Mr Barberini delivered Vaikunth Mehta Memorial Lecture on Role of Co-operatives in Economic Recession at NCUI Auditorium. He also felicitated Mr G.D. Amin on getting elected as the vice-chair of ICA Asia Pacific Board. Mr Barberini also addressed the press and media and held discussions with the civil servants, leaders and executives of cooperatives at the reception hosted by NCUI.

Report written by ; Rajiv I.D. Mehta, Dy. Regional Director, ICA Asia Pacific who had accompanied Mrs & Mr Barberini.