Conference on cooperatives to upgrade development laws

Rabat is hosting a conference on cooperatives and their role in securing a sustained development in Arab states.

The conference held this May 3-7 under the topic "Arab legislation in matters of cooperatives" will discuss a draft law on the cooperative that will be submitted as a sample to the Arab League and to Arab countries.

Participants in the opening session underscored the role played by cooperatives in alleviating poverty, weaving social ties, promoting the human element and fostering solidarity.

They stressed the need to enlarge the scope of their action so that it encompasses all the phases from production to marketing going through training and so that the cooperatives be totally integrated in national economy.

Participants also called for upgrading cooperation between cooperatives throughout the Arab world and for updating Arab laws to be up to the socioeconomic international changes.

More than 40 million persons are member of about 40,000 cooperatives in the Arab world, secretary general of the Arab cooperative movement disclosed during the meeting.