Tehran, Seoul to Expand Cooperation in Cooperatives Sector
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
Iran and South Korea are eager to expand their cooperation in cooperative sector and they are exploring ways for materializing the idea.
The second edition of Iran-South Korea Joint Seminar on Cooperatives Affairs was held at Tehran’s Milad Tower Conference Hall where the two sides explored avenues of mutual cooperation.
Addressing the seminar, Secretary General of Iran Central Chamber of Cooperatives (ICCC) Mr. Mashallah Azimi said that cooperatives is a common issue in the economy which has been well accepted and implemented in the developed countries and he could mention two countries of the U.S. and South Africa as examples.
He went on to say that cooperatives have colorful role in the economies of those countries and people in real sense have their own share in their national economies.
The official elsewhere noted that the Iranian government is paying more and more attention to cooperatives in recent years, because of their growing significant role in the country’s economic structure.
Azimi further mentioned Iranian Leader’s recent remarks in a meeting with the country’s businessmen and entrepreneurs, saying “As the Leader mentioned, cooperatives create new job opportunities and attract new investments and when joined together they could create a powerful force for development of the country.”
Elsewhere in his remarks, the official stressed the need for expansion of cooperation between the two countries’ SMEs in the sanctions era, calling on the South Korean government for facilitating transfer of knowledge and experience to Iran through cooperation between SMEs.
He finally mentioned Iran’s plans for further expansion of the role of cooperatives in the country’s economy, saying “According to the Sixth Five-Year National Development Plan (2016-2021), the share of cooperatives in Iran’s GDP is set to increase to 25 percent from the current six percent and we hope to achieve this goal in a constructive cooperation with our reliable trade partners such as South Korea.”
South Korean Ambassador to Tehran Ryu Jeong-Hyun, for his part, expressed gratitude to ICCC and the Iranian government for making necessary arrangements for organizing the second Iran-Korea joint cooperatives seminar.
Pointing to the significance of such event, Ryu Jeong-Hyun noted that the South Korean Government is determined to hold this event annually in collaboration with ICCC in order to raise awareness and make the two countries’ cooperatives to get to know each other better and explore potential areas for mutual cooperation.
Elsewhere in his remarks he stressed the need for the two countries to share their knowledge and experience in order to expand their cooperation in a variety of fields through cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
He finally expressed hope that the two countries’ governments would support cooperation between their SMEs and chambers of cooperatives so that the exchange of knowledge and experience between the two sides lead to further economic development for both countries.
