Lee Seong-hee, President of NongHyup, Chairs Subcommittee Meeting at World Cooperative Congress

Sharing Growth Experiences on the 60th Anniversary of NongHyup's Founding

Lee Seong-hee, President of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, delivering a welcome message on behalf of Korean cooperatives at the opening ceremony of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress held on the 1st at the Grand Walkerhill in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. (Photo by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation)

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) announced that Chairman Lee Seong-hee presided over a breakout session representing Korean cooperatives at the opening ceremony of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress held on the 1st at the Grand Walkerhill in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.

This congress was held in Korea to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the 25th anniversary of the declaration of cooperative identity. Under the theme "Cooperative Identity - Towards Sustainable Development for All," the event is being held both online and offline until the 3rd. Over 400 participants from 85 countries visited Korea, and more than 1,000 cooperative members worldwide attended online.

During the congress, NACF conducted the ICA Global Board meeting, ICA Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, and the International Cooperative Agricultural Organization (ICAO) General Assembly. In particular, Chairman Lee presided over the breakout session held in the afternoon under the theme "Reviewing Cooperative Identity through Relations with the Government." Based on NACF's 60 years of experience since its founding, he introduced NACF's successful partnership with the government and discussed the topic.

In his welcoming message at the opening ceremony, Chairman Lee said, "The World Cooperative Congress has served as a compass pointing the way forward during times of great change," adding, "I hope this congress held in Korea will serve as an opportunity to explore new paths for the development of global cooperatives and the improvement of members' quality of life."

The ICA is the world's largest non-governmental organization representing cooperatives worldwide, with 320 national-level cooperatives from 110 countries as members. It represents the interests of one billion cooperative members. Since 1998, NACF has served as an ICA board member organization, an ICA Asia-Pacific regional board member organization, and the ICAO chair organization, ranking among the world's top 10 cooperatives.