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Co-operatives United has been hailed as one of the world's largest co-operative exhibitions by the organiser of ICAEXPO.
More than 120 co-operatives from over 35 countries exhibited a diverse array of products and services at the ICA's biennial business-to-business show in Manchester last month.
Luiz Branco, President of ICAEXPO, said: “This expo has grown in stature since we held the first one in 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal. With almost 12,000 visits in three days the business deals done in 2012 involved not only co-operative to co-operative in nature, but also businesses coming from outside the co-operative sector that want to do deals with us."
The whole Co-operatives United event, which included national conferences organised by the host country and ICA's General Assembly, attracted 11,800 visits over the three days. From across the world, 753 co-operatives attended and 88 countries were represented.
In a breakdown of ICA regions, 13.5 per cent of delegates were from Asia Pacific, 12.7 per cent from Europe (excluding the UK), 7.3 per cent from the Americas and 2.3 per cent from Africa.
The ICAEXPO's Mr Branco said the financial crisis could prove to be an impetus for further co-operative development as co-ops have proven to be more resilient than traditional enterprises.
Referring to those who attended the event he said: “They went to Manchester to make deals because they recognise that co-operative businesses are doing particularly well in tough times. We are the businesses that are more stable and resilient, so we make excellent commercial partners."
Mr Branco said 80 per cent of business opportunities came from mutual co-operation among co-operatives whereas 20 per cent were from outside the sector. “The re-affirmed success of the event was based on inter co-operation. However, the base for future events will be the promotion and growth to the outside market,” added Mr Branco.
Jean Claude Detilleux, Chairman of Credit Cooperatif and President of CoopFrance and ICA Board Director said the ICAEXPO was a great opportunity to make new contacts and meet potential business partners. “We think that we are not well-known enough in France. The French co-op movement is important, but it is not alone.”
Present at the Expo, Lyne Gagnon, Communications Director of the International Summit of Co-operatives said: “For us it was a complementary event to the International Summit. We wanted to meet people as well. We wanted to be part of that great celebration of co-operatives.”
Participating countries in the world trade exhibition included African organisations from Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. For the Americas: Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. For Asia: China, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Palestine, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the UAE. For Europe: Belgium, Bulgaria, England, France, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Turkey and Wales.
• To find out more about Co-operatives United, visit: www.manchester2012.coop/live
Photo: OCB — the Brazillian organisation of co-operatives at ICAEXPO 2012.
