PM Modi calls for global financial institutions to support cooperatives | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday proposed the idea of ​​a global financial institution can finance that cooperatives all over the world. He said there is an urgent need to pool financial resources to support small and financially weak cooperatives. “We need to come up with a financial partnership model to ensure easy and transparent financing for the cooperatives,” Modi said while addressing a five-day global cooperative conference (GCC) on its opening day here at Bharat Mandapam. He added that such shared financial platforms can play a vital role in financing major projects and providing loans to cooperatives.
This is the first time that the GCC of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is organized in India. The Prime Minister on this occasion launched the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025, which will focus on the theme ‘Cooperatives are building a better world’, underscoring the transformative role that cooperatives play in promoting social inclusion, economic empowerment and sustainable development. Underscoring the need for an exclusive financial institution for cooperatives, Modi said that while the ICA played its role in supporting cooperatives around the world, it was imperative to go beyond this in the future.
Noting that the current situation in the world presents great opportunities for the cooperative movement, he said there was a need to make cooperatives a standard-bearer of integrity and mutual respect in the world. strategy. Prime Minister of Bhutan Dasho Tshering Tobgay; Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji Manoa Kamikamica; Minister of State for Home Affairs and Cooperation Amit Shah; UN Resident Coordinator in India, Shombi Sharp; and ICA President Ariel Guarco were among those who attended the GCC inauguration.
During his speech, Shah talked about how the new Ministry of Cooperation, set up under the Prime Minister’s leadership three years ago, could revolutionize the cooperative movement in India. He said the ministry has taken several initiatives to further strengthen it. Shah said that to expand the reach of cooperatives, the government was committed to connecting every village and farmer with the cooperative movement.
Highlighting the age-old culture, the Prime Minister said in his speech, “For the world, cooperatives are a model, but for India it is the basis of culture, a way of life.” He added that cooperatives in particular can help countries in the South achieve the kind of growth they need. Therefore, he said, it was necessary to innovate new ways for international cooperation of cooperatives, and the GCC could be of great help in this regard.
Underscoring the importance of climate-proofing cooperatives, Modi said they should be linked to the circular economy and there was an immediate need to promote start-ups in cooperatives. The Prime Minister also launched a commemorative stamp on the occasion, symbolizing India’s commitment to the cooperative movement.