First National Cooperative Congress

The cooperative sector in Nepal has been recognized by the Nepal Government as one of the pillars among three pillars (Cooperative, Public and Private) of national economy. At present, there are 29,546 primary cooperatives, 285 district level cooperative unions, 17 central level cooperative unions, one National Cooperative Bank and one National Cooperative Federation in Nepal (NCF/N) as an apex body of Nepalese Cooperative Movement. It is estimated that the contributions of cooperative sector have remained about 3 percent in the gross domestic production (GDP) of the country and almost 18 percent in the financial sector. More than four million population of the country are directly involved in this sector and people are being self-motivated to voluntarily organize cooperatives for their socio-economic development. Since the history of Cooperative Movement of Nepal is of 57 years, the time has come to evaluate the cooperative movement from different prospectives and set the future strategy in line with the objectives as stipulated in the cooperative decade as announced by the International Cooperative Alliance through ICA Blue Print. The NCF/N in collaboration with the Government of Nepal, Ministry of Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation is going to organize the 1st National Cooperative Congress, with the theme: "Sustainable Economic Development and Social Justice through Cooperatives", which will be held in Hotel Soaltee Crowne Plaza, Kathmandu, Nepal from 25-27 March 2014. The main celebration committee has been formed under the Chairmanship of Minster for the Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal and Steering Committee under the conveniorship of NCF/N Chairman in order to manage the program effectively. Main objectives for the first National Cooperative Congress are listed as follows. a) To review achievements of the Nepali cooperative movement. b) To study place of cooperative sector in the constitution of Nepal. c) To strengthen relation and develop coordination between government and cooperative development and stakeholders' agencies. d) To develop solidarity and common strong commitment among cooperatives/unions. e) To identify the common problems of cooperative sector and determine future direction f) To make cooperative business strong as envisaged by ICA's target within the cooperative decade.