ANNEXURE – 2E

MINUTES OF THE ICA-AP REGIONAL BOARD MEETING

GENTING HIGHLANDS, MALAYSIA (Hybrid): AUGUST 21, 2023

The hybrid meeting of the ICA-AP Regional Board was held in Genting Highlands, Malaysia
on Monday, 21 August 2023 from 13:00 to 16:00 hours, Malaysia time. The following
members attended the meeting:

1. Dr. Chandra Pal Singh Yadav, KRIBHCO, India - Chairperson

2. Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Fattah Abdullah, ANGKASA, Malaysia – Vice-Chairperson
3. Ms. Chen Fei, ACFSMC, China – Alternate to Vice-Chairperson
4. Ms. Chitose Arai, JCCU, Japan – Member & Chairperson, ICA-AP Committee on
Women
5. Ms. Maria Corazon S. Montallana, NATCCO, Philippines – Member
6. Mr. Min Raj Kadel, NCF, Nepal – Member
7. Mr. G.D. Sarath Weerasiri, NCC, Sri Lanka – Member
8. Mr. Wook Lee, NACF, Korea – Alternate Member
9. Mr. Alireza Banaeifar, ICC, Iran – Alternate Member & Chairperson, ICA-AP
Committee on Youth Cooperation
10. Ms. Savitri Singh, NCUI, India – Observer
11. Mr. Dileep Sanghani, NCUI, India – Observer
12. Dr. Sudhir Mahajan, NCUI, India – Observer
13. Dato' Kamarudin Ismail, ANGKASA, Malaysia - Observer
14. Dr. Noraini Mohamad, ANGKASA, Malaysia - Observer
15. Ms. Noor Azlinn Zahariman, ANGKASA, Malaysia - Observer
16. Ms. Wan Azwati Wan Mohamed, ANGKASA, Malaysia – Observer
17. Mr. Sungnam Kim, NACF, Korea – Observer
18. Mr. Taeyang Nam, NACF, Korea – Observer
19. Ms. Takako Tsuchiya, JCCU, Japan – Observer
20. Dr. Asanka Thilakarathna, NCC, Sri Lanka – Interpreter
21. Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP, New Delhi
22. Ms. Shivali Sarna, Staff, ICA-AP, New Delhi
23. Interpreter, JCCU, Japan
24. Interpreter, JCCU, Japan

Ms. Natalie Browning, Member from CBH Group, Australia and DR. Nguyen Ngoc Bao,
Member from VCA, Vietnam did not attend the meeting.

Welcome Remarks

Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Fattah Abdullah, President of ANGKASA and Vice-President of ICA-AP
welcomed all the participants. He expressed his happiness about hosting the first meeting as
the Vice-President of ICA-AP and thanked the Board for the opportunity. He proudly shared
with the Board the success of the recently held Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit
(APCYS) 4.0 that brought together 185 youth from across the region to Sabah, Malaysia.

He shared the week’s program with the Board: in conjunction with the regional board
meeting, a regional Cooperative to Cooperative (C-2-C) Trade & Business Conference is
planned, followed by an official dinner with all the delegates on 22 August. The conference

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was expected to have about 70 participants from 12 countries across the region and the
keynote address by Datuk Sahadevan from the National Land Finance Cooperative Society,
another ICA member from Malaysia. On 23 August, a visit to one of ANGKASA’s cooperative
members, Koperasi Ladang which is a successful plantation coop was arranged. He invited
the Board Members to attend the Conference and the cooperative visit. He encouraged them
to experience the rich recreational activities at Genting Highlands and participate in the tour
to Genting Skyworld.

Opening Remarks

Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav, President of ICA-AP thanked Datuk Fattah and ANGKASA for
hosting the Board meeting. He extended a warm welcome to all the board members present
in Malaysia and online.

Dr. Yadav noted that members are busy organizing a myriad of activities across the region.
The National Cooperative Federation of Nepal held its Congress in April 2023 which was
attended by the Prime Minister of Nepal. He shared that the Indian Cooperative Congress
was held on the International Day of Cooperatives on 1st July. The Prime Minister of India,
Shri. Narendra Modi addressed more than 5,000 cooperators from across the country. The
participants included the international fraternity, ambassadors, and representatives of
international organizations. Dr. Yadav noted that these events are important in creating
influence and ‘Political Will’ to support the cooperative business model.

He noted that the Asia-Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit was also held in July to mobilize
youth to adopt the cooperative model as a means of sustainable livelihood. He thanked
ANGKASA, Datuk Fattah, and the government of Malaysia for hosting the Youth Summit,
Regional Board meeting, and the C-2-C Trade and Business Conference.

Dr. Yadav mentioned that the G20 Presidency of India will conclude in September and
various working groups are concluding their discussions and drafting the policy
recommendations. Indian Cooperatives participated actively in Business20 (B20), Civil
Society 20 (C20) and Women 20 (W20) groups. The Civil Society has concluded its policy
recommendations this month wherein cooperatives have been mentioned as skill
development and financing organizations for artisans and others and for providing better-
priced consumer goods through collective bargaining. The drafting of policy documents for
other working groups is also progressing well and hopefully, cooperatives will get a good
mention.

He congratulated the ICA-AP Women's Committee on their upcoming 25 th anniversary

celebrations.

Dr. Yadav said that the Board will discuss some important agenda items like membership
and subscription issues, the constitution of the Committee on Cooperatives in Educational
Institutions (ICEI) among other regular matters. He requested Mr. Iyer to start the discussion.

Mr. Iyer said that in addition to the C20, cooperatives have also been mentioned in the B20
Task Force on financial inclusion and trade and global value chain. He said it is good to see
cooperatives being included in the important task forces of different working groups and
soon the final summary of these meetings will be published before the G20 Summit in early
September in New Delhi.

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Agenda Item 01: Approval of Agenda

Mr. Iyer said that the agenda was circulated in advance to the Board Members and
requested their comments and approval. He said that the ICEI had proposed an amendment
to their Constitution, but the ICEI President has communicated that they would need more
time to discuss the amendment internally and have withdrawn the proposal; this will not be
discussed today.

He said two items have been added to the agenda under Other Business Matters – the 11th
Asia Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference in April 2024 and the 17 th Asia Pacific
Regional Assembly in 2025.

No further comments were received from the Board and the agenda was approved.

Mr. Iyer shared the list of activities and events planned from August 21 – 23.

Agenda Item 02: Confirmation of Minutes - Meeting held on 6 April 2023

Mr. Iyer said the minutes of the last ICA-AP regional Board meeting held on 6 April in
Kathmandu, Nepal were circulated in advance to the Board members. He requested
comments from the Board members.

Mr. Kadel from NCF, Nepal requested to add the name of Ms. Chitra Kumari Thamsuhang
Subba to the list of attendees. This has been included in the minutes.

Since no further comments or suggestions were made by the members, the board confirmed
the minutes.

Agenda Item 03: Ratification of Atty. Maria Corazon Montallana, NATCCO

Dr. Yadav welcomed Ms. Maria Corazon S. Montallana to the ICA-AP Board. He noted that
the NATCCO Board has elected her as its new Chairperson. She will succeed Mr. Romulo
Caceres as the new Board member from the Philippines in the ICA-AP Board.

The Regional Board welcomed and ratified her nomination.

Agenda Item 04: Update from Women and Youth Committee

Dr. Yadav expressed his happiness that the ICA-AP Committee on Women is celebrating its
25th anniversary. He said that the Committee was founded in 1998 with the support of JCCU,
India and other members. Ms. Leeladevi R Prasad, Ex-Minister of Culture, Karnataka, India
helped in writing the committee constitution. Ms. Savitri Singh from NCUI, also served as the
Committee Secretary for a long time, while she was seconded to ICA-AP.

Dr. Yadav said that I am unable to attend the celebration in person due to other
commitments, therefore, I have shared a video and written a congratulatory message. I hope

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that the Women's Committee continue its work for the empowerment of women through
cooperatives.

He invited Ms. Chitose Arai, Chairperson of the Committee to present updates on their work
since the last Board meeting in April.
Ms. Arai said that the Committee is dedicated to promoting gender inclusion and women’s
participation at all levels of cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, the Committee
will celebrate its 25 years and is currently developing a new strategy with four key pillars –
Economic empowerment, Social empowerment, Knowledge, education and training, and
Solidarity.

She introduced the office bearers and said that the Committee has 32 members from 22 ICA
member organizations in 15 countries. In April 2023, 1 Cooperative Insurance System of the
Philippines and Jordan Cooperative Corporation joined.

She presented the calendar of activities for 2023 and highlighted the activities undertaken
from May to August 2023. The Committee developed a Training of Trainers (ToT) manual on
Climate Change and Action for Women Cooperators in partnership with NATCCO,
Philippines. A pilot to test the manual was organized in Hanoi, Vietnam from May 17 to 19.
She thanked NATCCO and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) for their support. 12
women representing 12 Provincial Cooperative Alliances under VCA attended and discussed
climate change and actions that women cooperatives can take. The participants also
provided feedback on the Manual, based on which the manual will be revised and launched
in November during the Women’s Committee’s statutory meeting.
Ms. Arai noted that the Committee will celebrate its 25th Anniversary in Tokyo, Japan on 19
and 20 September 2023 in a hybrid manner. Under the theme, Gender Equality for a
Brighter Future, the event will bring together the Women’s Committee members and
upcoming women leaders from different countries, representatives from ICA members,
supporters and well-wishers of the Committee, advocates of gender equality from
international organizations and public officials. The event will showcase significant moments
and accomplishments realized over the last 25 years and introduce interventions on gender
equality by Committee members. The event will also serve as a platform to engage in
reflections on how the Committee could steer its direction in the future and identify priority
areas that call for actions in the next 25 years. She said that a special booklet will be
launched by the Committee, which includes compliments from different stakeholders, case
studies of the exemplary work on gender equality within the cooperative sector across the
region and perspectives in the context of governance and law.
She said that the Committee has shared the information with Board members via email and
invited them to attend the event online and requested them to share this information with
women cooperators in their countries. She also thanked Dr. Yadav for sharing his video
message.
Ms. Arai noted that in November 2023, the committee will organise the 12 th Asia-Pacific
Regional Women’s Forum and its statutory meeting in conjunction with the ICA-AP Regional
Assembly in November. The new strategy will be approved and the ToT manual will be
officially launched. The Committee will discuss new initiatives to promote gender equality in
the region and build a brighter future.

Dr. Yadav thanked Ms. Arai for her report and invited Mr. Alireza Banaeifar, Chairperson of
the ICA-AP Committee on Youth Cooperation (ICYC) to present the report. Dr. Yadav

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congratulated everyone on the recently concluded APCYS 4.0 that was successfully
organised in Sabah, Malaysia and well attended.

Mr. Banaeifar thanked Dr. Fattah for organising the Board meeting and his support.

He introduced ICYC and highlighted the key activities undertaken in 2023. In March 2023,
ICYC held a webinar on the Financial Literacy Program for Youth in Cooperatives:
Empowering Youth from Asia-Pacific Region. The webinar was well-received by the
participants, who appreciated the valuable insights and found the program to be informative
and relevant.

He thanked ANGKASA for hosting the 185 youth participants from 16 countries across Asia-
Pacific in Sabah, Malaysia. The event also brought together new ideas and knowledge at
one forum and was graced by some high-level authorities of the Malaysian Government. He
said that during the Summit, best practices of Youth-led sustainable practices and ventures
were shared, hands-on group activities were undertaken, cooperative business ideas were
discussed during COOP Pitch and the cultural exchange provided the opportunity for youth
to learn across borders.

He shared how the preparations started many months ago and the Steering committee and
office bearers of ICYC would meet regularly to plan the event. He thanked the ANGKASA
staff and ICA-AP regional office staff for their support in organizing a successful Summit.

ICYC launched the fifth edition of the Go Green Campaign (GGC) during APCYS 4.0. It was
the first ever in-person campaign organised. GGC was initiated by ICYC in 2018 with the
objective of encouraging youth, aged 35 years and below, to actively participate in tree
planting initiatives, increase awareness of SDG 13-Climate Action and combat the global
threat of climate change. This year, under the theme #BeatPlasticPollution, along with tree
plantation, the youth also engaged in cleaning trash at the Manukan Island beach in Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah. They planted 261 trees at SMK Bandaraya in Kota Kinabalu and
collaborated with Trash Hero, an NGO, for a coastal clean-up, gathering 57 kg of waste. A
small video clip of these activities was presented to the Board.

Mr. Banaeifar recognized the generous support extended by ICYC members, AIMCOOP and
ULSCC, from the Philippines for their sponsorship of the campaign banners, GGC Logo and
badges.

On International Youth Day, ICYC organized a webinar focusing on "Empowering Youth

Through Green Skills: Pioneering the Way for a Sustainable Future." The webinar
highlighted youth-centred cooperatives that offer green skills and job opportunities. The main
objective was to showcase the services and opportunities provided by various cooperatives
and startups in the Asia-Pacific region, all committed to environmental protection. Around 38
participants registered, with 30 actively participating in the session. Ms. Justine from
LAMAC, Philippines shared insights on "Youth-Led Sustainable Initiatives and Innovation,"
and Mr. Rendy from ParongPong RAW Lab, Indonesia delved into "Entrepreneurship and
Green Start-ups Among Youth."

Mr. Banaeifar shared a calendar of activities for 2023. He said before the year ends, ICYC
will have elections for the new Chairperson, a statutory meeting, and a Youth workshop in
November in conjunction with the ICA-AP Regional Assembly. The Regional Youth

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Workshop will be organized under the theme “Cooperatives: Our Common Agenda” from
November 3-5. The workshop will gather youth participants from across the Asia-Pacific
region to foster idea exchange, global networking, program, and policy discussions, sharing
best practices, and proposing solutions for ICYC's future initiatives. He acknowledged the
sponsors from the Philippines – CDA, 1CISP Life and General Insurance, AIM-COOP,
MASS SPECC, FPSDC and ULSCC for organising the workshop.

Mr. Banaeifar said that he will be retiring as the ICYC Chairperson, and an election will be
held to elect a new Chairperson via an electronic election system.

He said that ICYC currently has 29 members from 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The committee is trying to increase its memberships in existing and new countries in the
region.

Mr. Banaeifar thanked the ICA-AP President, Dr. Yadav and Regional Director, Mr. Balu Iyer
for their continuous support and encouragement to the youth.

A video presentation of the APCYS 4.0 glimpses was presented to the Board.

Dr. Yadav thanked Mr. Banaeifar for his report and appreciated his work as the Chairperson
of ICYC.

Agenda Item 05: ICA-AP Activities (program and financial) Report

Dr. Yadav invited Mr. Iyer to present the ICA-AP activities report for the activities carried out
since the last Board meeting and the financial report.

Mr. Iyer congratulated both the ICA-AP Women Committee and ICYC for their work. He
appreciated Mr. Banaeifar for his work as ICYC Chairperson.

He noted that the Women's Committee has 22 members from 15 countries and ICYC has 29
members from 10 countries. He said that ICA-AP has 108 members from 29 countries
across Asia-Pacific and requested the Board members to encourage members in their
countries to nominate more members from ICA-AP thematic and sectoral committees.

He acknowledged ANGKASA for their support as a host for the Youth Summit and involving
the other members of Malaysia and the Malaysian Government. He showed his gratitude to
members who provided financial support – ACFSMC (China), KRIBHCO (India), JCCU
(Japan), Dot Cooperation (UK), National Land Finance Ltd. (Malaysia) and many other
cooperatives from Malaysia. He thanked all the ICA-AP members who enthusiastically
nominated youth participants for the Summit. He said, that this year the office had to close
registrations way ahead of the deadline and this shows the interest of our members in the
event.

He shared some of the key activities undertaken by the office since the last Board meeting in
April 2023.

ICA-MAFF training course

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The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan supports three training
courses each year. Over the past three years the trainings has been held online and this
year onwards it will be held in person.

Mr. Iyer mentioned that this week itself, the training course on Women is starting and will be
conducted in Thailand (1 st part) and Japan (2 nd part) from August 22 to September 14. There
will be participants from seven countries – India, Kiribati, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Since the course is being held in person after a gap of three years, a
lot of preparatory work is being carried out by the Regional Office in discussing the new
format and signing the agreement with the MAFF. IDACA and JA Zenchu have provided
immense support to the Regional Office in liasioning with MAFF.

ToT on Climate Change and Action

The ICA-AP Committee on Women conducted the pilot training of trainers in Hanoi, Vietnam
in May 2023 in collaboration with the VCA. It was organised to test the manual prepared on
climate change by NATCCO and take participants’ feedback to improve the manual. Mr. Iyer
noted that hopefully from next year onwards, the ICA-AP Regional Office will start
implementing the training program across different countries of the region.

Coop Colloquium
Mr. Iyer noted that the Research Committee has been active and started a series of COOP
Colloquiums last year. Every 2-3 months, they organize a colloquium on a thematic topic and
invite an expert to share their knowledge and views on the same. Since the last meeting of
the Board, two colloquiums have been organized on Mutual Value Measurement Framework
in collaboration with the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) and
Melbourne-based Monash Business School (MBS); and another on Promoting Inclusive and
Quality Cooperative Education in collaboration with the Department of Cooperatives and
Social Development, Polytechnic University of Philippines to deepen understanding and
appreciation of cooperative education.

Mr. Iyer noted that the Consumer Committee has also been active and has started in-person
training programs. In July, one program was organised by the Committee in Japan.

APCYS 4.0: COOP Pitch

Mr. Iyer noted that this year during the APCYS 4.0, the COOP Pitch competition was
organised in which the youth were invited to pitch cooperative business ideas. There were
11 teams who made the final pitch and the top three winners were from Indonesia, Malaysia,
and the Philippines. It was interesting to note each winning team aligning their pitches with
the theme of the Summit where we looked at Sustainability and how cooperatives and youth
can contribute towards it.

The first prize winner from Indonesia looked at reducing emissions from coal and pitched to
generate fuel through wooden pallets made out of sugarcane and coconut tree waste. They
hoped to create a network of pallet manufacturers and build up their enterprise.

The second-prize winners from Malaysia looked at reducing palm oil waste and creating
building blocks out of it for the construction industry.

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The third prize winners from the Philippines looked at reducing coconut waste and creating
something useful by recycling and reusing it and ensuring that the carbon footprint is
reduced.
The Regional Office’s effort would be to see how we can support these ideas and help them
put into practice and scale up. Mr. Iyer requested the Board members to see how they can
support the winners from their respective countries to put the ideas into action. He said, we
would like to see this happening in other countries as well, we want the youth to be involved
in cooperatives and one way is to hear their innovative ideas and support them in
implementing those initiatives. COOP Pitch has been important in realising this vision and
one of the best examples is that the winner of the first COOP Pitch went back and
established their sustainable enterprise and played the host for the second Youth Summit.

International Cooperative Day 2023 (IDC)

Mr. Iyer shared that IDC was actively celebrated in the region. The regional office launched a
dedicated website and posted messages from the ICA and ICA-AP Presidents and also
invited members to share their key events and activities planned for CoopsDay. The Office
also released a position paper highlighting the key areas where cooperatives can act as
crucial partners for sustainable development, with specific examples from the Asia Pacific
region.

COOP Dialogue
Mr. Iyer noted that ICA-AP launched COOP Dialogue, its bi-annual magazine in November
2021. Its fourth edition was released in May 2023 on Cooperatives' Contribution to SDGs:
Achievements and Way Forward. The office interviewed Mr. Andrew Allimadi from UNDESA
on Cooperatives and Contribution to SDGs, Ms. Eva Sundari from Indonesia on
Cooperatives and Gender Equality. It featured examples from Japan, Nepal, the Philippines,
and Korea to know what they are doing to contribute towards the SDGs. It also showcases
cooperatives as champions for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. 2023 marks the mid-point of the 2030 agenda and the UN will host the SDG
Summit in September to discuss the progress and way forward. From the ICA-AP Regional
Office, we will see how this COOP Dialogue can be presented at the Summit to showcase
examples from the region.

Mr. Iyer said that the Regional Office has also conducted a study on how cooperatives are
represented in the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) of their countries. We studied the
national reports from 2015 onwards to see how cooperatives have been mentioned in the
reports of the member countries of ICA-AP and which are the SDGs to which cooperatives
have been contributing. 15 member countries’ reports mention cooperatives and specific
examples of our member cooperatives have been provided like the Singapore National
Cooperative Federation (SNCF), JCCU from Japan and many others. A significant
contribution of cooperatives is to SDG 1, 2, 8, and 13. We are actively working with our
members in countries that are going to present their VNRs to see how they are liaising with
focal points in their countries. He noted that Nepal is a very good example of how they have
actively engaged with the government and with the UN. It is the only country which has
specific targets for cooperatives in their SDG plan. He said that this is a very notable
achievement. The Regional Office would like to see that in other countries cooperatives are
also actively reflected in the VNRs.

Financial report

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Mr. Iyer presented the financial report from January to June 2023.

He said that there are two things to be noted in the report. One, when the budget was
prepared in October of 2022, the Ukraine war broke out and because of the sanctions, there
was a lot of turmoil in the financial market. Due to Ukraine and Europe being at the centre,
the value of the euro depreciated in comparison to the dollar.

Historically, the Euro has been a stronger currency than the Dollar. When the budget was
prepared, it was much lower and therefore, a conservative estimate was taken for the
conversion.

He noted that on the income side, the region has done well so far. Due to the ICA global
elections in June, an active effort was made by the members to pay their subscription dues.
The region did well in comparison to what was budgeted for last year.

Another important aspect is that the Regional Office is actively working to ensure that the
registrations for the regional assembly happen on time as the registration fees are an
important source of income for the regional office. So far, members from India and a few
other countries are actively registering. He said that we will continue to promote and ensure
that there are more registrations. The deadline to register is September 30th, so he
requested the board members to encourage registrations from their respective countries and
ensure that we have a good turnout at the regional assembly.

Mr. Iyer noted that an overdue amount was also estimated in the budget for the agreement
with the UAE Ministry of Economy, to support them in their policy, strategy, and capacity-
building work last year. However, later, there was a shift, and the ICA global office was
asked to take charge of the strategy. But given the contribution that the regional office had
made, it owes around 30,000 USD which was expected to come this year. Now that the UAE
government seems to have decided that they would not like to focus on the strategy
immediately, the payment looks a bit difficult. The global office is trying to work with them to
ensure that whatever is due comes back.

Mr. Iyer said that we are hopeful that the office will be able to meet the target set forth for the
income even if the 30,000 USD isn’t paid this year as we have received a good subscription
income.

On the expenses side, the office is on target so far. Mr. Iyer noted that there are some areas
like travel and administration where the expenses till June were low because most of the
activities happened online. The Youth Summit happened in July and expenses were incurred
on travel and other related areas. Also, during the regional assembly, the office will have
expenses to be incurred for staff travel and for invited speakers. He said we would be able to
match the budget we had.

On the administration side, payments relating to audit, printing, and other things are done
towards the end of the year. Overall, the office is meeting the target at least till the midpoint
and we are hopeful, even by the end of the year, we will be on the positive side, said, Mr.
Iyer.

Agenda Item 06: ICA-AP Projects update

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Mr. Iyer presented updates on the various projects ICA-AP is engaged in. These were:

ICA-EU Framework Partnership Agreement

Mr. Iyer noted that this is a call put out by the EU and they have a special lot for
cooperatives. ICA being the apex body, which represents cooperatives, is usually the only
one who applies in this lot. The proposal submission is in two parts; ICA has cleared the first
phase which the EU communicated at the end of July. ICA has been asked to submit the full
proposal for which the preparatory work is going on. ICA has a Grant Oversight Committee
(GOC), which has the ICA President, the ICA Director General, and the Regional Presidents.
Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav from the Asia Pacific region is part of the GOC that meets to
see how the proposal work is coming along. In addition, all the Regional Directors are
working with the Project Director, Marc in Brussels, and are providing inputs from the region.

Mr. Iyer said that by the end of September, the detailed proposal will be submitted and in two
to three months, the EU will declare the results. Hopefully, by the end of this year or early
next year, the status will be known if ICA has been awarded.

SuPER WE Coffee project, Laos PDR

This project is specifically focused on Lao PDR. Mr. Iyer noted that one of the reasons for
taking up this project was mobilizing cooperatives from Lao PDR to become members of ICA
as it is not an ICA member country. If we do active projects, there will be more awareness
about ICA and the work that we do and there will be interest from that country to become a
member of the ICA.

ICA-AP is part of a consortium, which is being led by CARE France along with an ICA
member from Italy. ICA-AP’s components are providing training of trainers, capacity-building
programs, and developing the curriculum. Mr. Iyer said that ICA-AP will invite a few of the
participants of this project to the Regional Assembly so that they can then interact with other
members from the region and be more aware of how cooperatives work across different
countries. This is an ongoing project.

EU CSO Proposal - Vietnam

ICA-AP is also part of a proposal in Vietnam as a service provider to the VCA along with
Halieus in Italy. They won this bid, but there is still some work to be done before they get the
grant. ICA will support the youth component of this project, looking at how youth can be
actively promoted in cooperatives. ICA-AP will help VCA and Halieus carry out the youth-
related activities.

Young Farmers Boot Camp and Agrilympics

Mr. Iyer noted that ICA-AP has been approached by the Asian Farmers Association (AFA)
and the Pacific Island Farmers Organization Network (PIFON), to be part of a Young
Farmers Cooperative Boot Camp. He said, like the youth summit, AFA would like to bring
together young farmers from across the region in a boot camp where they can be exposed to
the work of cooperatives, not only in their country but also have interaction among youth
from different countries. Since it is aligned with the Office’s work, ICA-AP has agreed to be
part of this Young Farmers' Boot Camp. It's still in the initial stage of fundraising and ICA-AP
is helping them connect with other organizations. He said, that once sufficient funds are
raised, we will be able to identify youth from the region to be part of this boot camp.

Agenda Item 07: Membership and 2023 subscription status

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Dr. Yadav noted that membership and subscription status remains an issue of concern. Four
members have been excluded from ICA membership due to non-payment of their
subscription fee for more than three years. The total pending subscription amount is Euro
315,000 with dues pending for 2023 from 16 organizations. He invited Mr. Iyer to present the
detailed report for the information of the Board.

Mr. Iyer said that outstanding subscription issues are at two different levels. The first is
related to specific countries – Iran and Sri Lanka, where not due to lack of interest but
external factors, have compelled from transferring their payment. Iran has 10 members and
most of them have had issues in making payments. They have shown commitment to pay
but due to the sanctions, it has been difficult for them. Some have managed to find ways to
pay but most others have not been able to. ICA-AP is actively engaging with members and
the ICA membership committee to reach a solution and requesting ICA not to issue
cessation letters. He said that, despite the best of our efforts, three members in Iran have
accumulated dues of more than three years. The membership committee noted that it will be
difficult for them to pay back the entire amount as they are not able to pay even for one year.
The membership committee decided to issue cessation letters.

Mr. Iyer noted that Sri Lanka has also had issues for the past two years due to the economic
situation and they have faced issues over foreign remittances. The situation is now
improving and ICA-AP is hopeful of receiving the subscription fee from some of the members
this year.

The second issue is that in some countries, ICA has government departments or ministries
as its members. These are largely from the Pacific Island countries as they do not have an
apex organization, or a federation and cooperatives are in a very nascent stage there.
Countries like Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and Timor Leste are small
countries which have been affected by COVID-19 and their tourism industry on which they
depend has been affected; and many of them have gone through natural disasters. ICA-AP
regional office is actively engaging with them to reach a solution and help them pay their
subscription fee.

Mr. Iyer said that in the Philippines, two members have withdrawn their ICA membership.
One is the Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC), which is facing difficulty with its finances as
some of its large members can no longer be members due to the changed mandate of
membership by the Cooperative Development Authority. PCC hopes to re-apply once the
situation improves and they have a better understanding of their new business model. It is
still an active part of the committee, which is looking at the regional assembly preparation.

Another member Metro South Cooperative Bank has merged with two other cooperative
banks in the Philippines. Therefore, they have withdrawn their membership but the newly
merged entity, One Cooperative Bank has applied for ICA membership.

In total, ICA-AP has 108 member organizations from across 28 countries, which is a drop
from the last meeting. The regional office is actively working with members from the existing
countries and new countries to increase the number. Mr. Iyer mentioned that a new
membership application has come from Saudi Arabia, which was in discussion for many
months. Hopefully, by the next Board meeting, the office will be able to confirm their
membership. Another country that brings hope is Brunei. A delegation from Brunei is

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attending the Trade Conference and we will discuss with them about being an ICA member.
ICA-AP is in regular touch with organizations with pending membership applications and is
actively pursuing them.

Mr. Iyer noted that in its General Assembly in June 2023, the ICA approved the new Articles
of Association. Even a small cooperative can apply to be a member of the ICA, and this
allows cooperatives of any size to become regular members of the ICA with voting rights.
This is to ensure that there is no restriction or limitation placed by the ICA. However, this has
an impact on the existing members as the votes are divided between the existing members.
The ICA membership and the subscription committees which are looking into subscription
and voting rights have still not concluded on how this issue of subscription and voting can be
addressed. Mr. Iyer said that new requests are coming from existing countries like India and
the Philippines. The regional office doesn’t want to discourage them but would also like to
make sure that there is clarity on how the voting rights of existing members are affected
before we actively encourage smaller cooperatives and other forms of cooperatives to be
part of the ICA. The office has stated that in countries where there are more than 10
members, it would like to go slow till there is clarity about impact on the voting rights and
what it means for the existing members.

Mr. Iyer said that overall, the subscription status is improving, especially in 2023. Though
quite a few members have paid their outstanding, there are still some members with pending
dues from this year and previous years. The Regional Office will benefit due to the Euro
getting strengthened again and the Rupee weakening against the Dollar.

Members pay their subscription fees in Euros, but the Regional Office receives money from
the Global Office in Dollars. Because the Euro is strengthening, the ICA-AP will benefit from
the number of Dollars coming in. Another aspect is that ICA-AP carries out many activities in
Rupees, so the weakening Rupee also impacts the ICA-AP budget positively. Mr. Iyer said
that when the budget was submitted last year, it was assumed that ICA-AP would end in a
negative position due to foreign exchange issues at the beginning of last year. Now, seven
months later, things have changed, but the Regional Office is closely monitoring these
fluctuations in exchange rates and different economies. It would keep a check on its income
and expenditure to make sure that overall, the office stays in the positive.

Mr. Kadel asked about the total number of members ICA has globally. Mr. Iyer responded
that it is more than 310. Dato’ Kamaruddin, Vice President of ANGKASA and ICA Board
Members confirmed that ICA has more than 310 members from around 110 countries.

Dr. Yadav thanked Mr. Iyer for the detailed report and invited comments from the Board. No
comments were made.

Agenda Item 08: ICA-AP 2023 Regional Assembly Update

Dr. Yadav said that the 16 th ICA-AP Regional Assembly will be held in the Philippines from 6
to 10 November 2023 and thanked the members for agreeing to host the assembly.

He invited Mr. Iyer to share an update on its preparations.

Mr. Iyer thanked the members in the Philippines for all the preparations, especially on the
logistics front. He mentioned that the first set of visa invitation letters had been received

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today for the registered delegates from India. Mr. Iyer noted that there are a few countries
that need visas ahead of time like India, Iran, Palestine, Jordan, Sri Lanka, and a few more.
For this, they require visa request letters from the host in original form and notarized. He
said that the ICA-AP Secretariat would be writing to members in these countries to register
early so that they receive visa letters on time.

He presented the program of activities to be carried out from November 6 to 10. The ICA-AP
Regional Board meeting will be held on November 6. He said that the regional committees
have started firming up their events and meetings. All the details of these events are being
uploaded to the website www.regionalassembly.coop.

Mr. Iyer said that this year ICA-AP is collaborating with NEDAC as it is having its annual
meeting around the same time. The ICA-AP Trade and Business Committee will have a joint
meeting event with NEDAC on November 7. A delegation from the Mercosur countries,
which is in South America are visiting a few countries in the Asia Pacific region, and they will
be in the Philippines during the time of the regional assembly. ICA-AP will organize a joint
meeting with the Mercosur delegation on November 10.

This year, ICA-AP has also planned to have an exhibition of cooperative products. FPSDC,
an ICA member from the Philippines has taken the lead in organizing this and they are
discussing the logistics with the hotel. Mr. Iyer said that we will reach out to a few countries,
whose cooperative products can be showcased. There will be 20 booths, out of which 11 will
be reserved for Philippine members and nine booths are for international cooperatives. This
is a new activity being started and if successful, the regional office will organize it in future
regional assemblies.

November 8 will be the opening ceremony of the Cooperative Forum. Mr. Iyer noted that
members of the Philippines Cooperative Affiliates and the Cooperative Development
Authority are in touch with the government to see if they can invite the President of the
country to open the ceremony. November 9 is the Regional Assembly and field visits will be
organized on November 10.

Mr. Iyer shared the theme of the Assembly, ‘Cooperatives: Our Common Agenda’ and the
rationale behind choosing this. He noted that the UN Secretary-General has commissioned a
report which is also titled ‘Our Common Agenda’ and 2023 happens to be the midpoint of the
implementation of SDGs. The office felt the need to look at the common agenda for
cooperatives across the Asia Pacific region. The Cooperative Forum will be structured into
an opening plenary and three breakout sessions to deliberate on the theme.

The opening plenary will look at the Cooperative Identity and how it can be actively
promoted. Ms. Melina Morrison, CEO of BCCM has been invited to Chair this session as she
is also a member of the ICA’s Cooperative Identity Advisory Group. Mr. Andrew Alimadi from
the UNDESA in New York will provide a perspective from the UN on the cooperative identity.
Members from Japan and the Philippines, who have done a lot of work on the cooperative
identity will also share their perspectives.

Mr. Iyer shared the details of three breakout sessions which will be on Climate Change,
Promoting Diversity and Inclusion, and Embracing Disruptive Technologies which are in line
with the common agenda for cooperatives. The session on climate change will look at how
cooperatives can advance sustainability through cross-sector collaboration. The session on

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diversity and inclusion will look at how cooperatives empower by leading in terms of
promoting diversity and inclusion. The third session on disruptive technologies will try to
understand what these disruptions mean for cooperatives. How is it going to impact us?
What are the types of responses which cooperatives are putting in place? Each breakout
session is structured in a way that provides a high-level perspective and practices on the
ground. Mr. Iyer said that based on this, the office will come out with a declaration on ‘Our
Common Agenda’, which can be taken forward across cooperatives in the region.

He requested all the board members to encourage active participation from their countries.

Mr. Kadel from Nepal enquired about the registration fee. Mr. Iyer responded that it depends
on the countries’ World Bank income group category - high income, middle income, low
income, and for youth participants, as approved by the board in the last board meeting.

Agenda Item 09: Other Business Matters

Dr. Yadav said that in the beginning of the Board meeting, Mr. Iyer added two items under
the other business matters and invited him to share the details.

11th Asia Pacific Cooperative Ministers’ Conference

Mr. Iyer said that the two items on the agenda are the Asia Pacific Cooperative Ministers’
Conference (APCMC) and the 2025 Regional Assembly.

Mr. Iyer noted that in the last board meeting in Kathmandu, it was mentioned that ICA-AP is
in touch with Jordan to host the APCMC. Jordan was chosen because we have not had a
ministers’ conference in the Middle East, and it is an area where we have very few
members. Therefore, it would be a good opportunity to increase the visibility of cooperatives
and the ICA.

ICA-AP contacted its member, Jordan Cooperative Corporation (JCC) in Jordan. Mr. Iyer
also thanked our members in Palestine, ESDC, for actively supporting this discussion. He
mentioned that a week back, approval from the Jordan Prime Minister’s Office has come to
hold the conference in 2024. He was in Amman, Jordan last week to sign the MoU with the
JCC and could meet the Minister of Agriculture.

The theme of the APCMC would be Partnerships between Government and Cooperatives:
Cooperative Resilience, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Growth in the Asia Pacific
region. ICA-AP believes that we need to develop the resilience of cooperatives to ensure
sustainable development and be more inclusive in terms of our growth. In this, partnerships
between government and cooperatives are an important element.

The dates being considered for APCMC are 28 to 30 April 2024. This takes into
consideration ample preparation time post the Regional Assembly in November 2023 and
the month of Ramazan in early 2024. The venue could be either in Amman or the Dead Sea,
both areas have good facilities.

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Mr. Iyer said that the ICA-AP office would write to members informing them about the
conference theme and dates and request them to inform the ministries in their respective
countries so that they could block their calendars well in advance.

He said that since the last board meeting, the discussion progressed. ICA-AP also plans to
invite non-member countries of the Middle East that have good cooperatives like Iraq and
Syria and from North Africa because there is a strong connection between the Middle East
and North Africa in terms of language, history, and culture. We feel that we will also benefit if
we can invite some of the North African countries and their ministers and also work with our
ICA Africa office.

17th ICA-AP Regional Assembly (2025)

Mr. Iyer noted that we are working ahead to see that we can announce the venue of the next
Regional Assembly in the November assembly. ICA-AP was in discussion with Nepal but
that couldn’t materialize as they have elections coming up and are not sure at this point
whether they would be able to host.

Then ICA-AP reached out to the National Cooperative Council of Sri Lanka with the request
to host the 2025 Regional Assembly. He requested NCCSL to share an update on this.

Dr. Asanka from NCCSL thanked the ICA-AP President and the Board members for this
opportunity and said that Sri Lanka hosted an assembly in 2006 and will be happy to host
again in 2025. He said that the situation in Sri Lanka has improved now, it has a vibrant
cooperative movement and is ready to host the 17 th Regional Assembly, Board elections and
related activities.

Mr. Iyer said that NCCSL has officially accepted the request and we will announce the same
at the upcoming Regional Assembly in Manila.

Mr. Iyer noted that ICEI has withdrawn their proposal to amend its constitution so that the
agenda is not included.

Ms. Montallana from NATCCO thanked everyone for a warm welcome. She noted that it is a
welcoming step by ICA to amend its articles of association to include small cooperatives.
She said that to increase our membership, we could have a segment during board meetings
and regional assemblies where specific activities could be organized for the orientation of
small coops to introduce them to ICA and its structure.

Mr. Iyer mentioned that Shivali Sarna from ICA-AP is in touch with the ICA global office to
organize a campaign to mobilize new members. Currently, they just get the information on
ICA websites and there has not been an active mobilization campaign from ICA’s end. ICA
would like to start a campaign once the new DG joins early next year. ICA-AP will look at
doing something ahead in the region to see how we can better promote ICA to cooperatives.

Agenda Item 10: Date and Place of Next ICA-AP Regional Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held on November 6, 2023, in Manila, Philippines.

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Closing Remarks
Dr. Yadav thanked the Board for active and fruitful discussions. He said that the reports by
the women and youth committees are interesting, and we look forward to a successful 25th-
anniversary celebration of the women's committee. The Board also appreciated the project
activities and financial status of the regional office.

Dr. Yadav noted that the membership and subscription situation needs to be addressed
seriously. The Regional Director should work with the members to reach out for a solution.
He appreciated the Regional Director for carrying out activities successfully and
acknowledged the cooperation and support from members in hosting various activities of
ICA-AP.

He urged all Board members to attend the regional assembly and related events in the
Philippines in large numbers to make it a grand success. He thanked Datuk Fattah for their
warm hospitality and cordially invited the Board to the networking dinner.

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