Minister lauds cooperatives as key to economic resilience, inclusive growth
Iranian Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare Ahmad Meydari said on Tuesday that cooperatives play a central role in economic resilience and inclusive growth, urging governments and institutions to consider the issue at the heart of their policies and efforts.
Speaking at the second International Conference on Cooperative Economics in Tehran, Meydari said expanding cooperatives requires “a complete ecosystem ranging from financial and legal sectors to judicial and administrative ones,” mcls.gov.ir reported.
He called for their development at both national and global levels, stressing that, “The youth are the biggest force for transformation and must be harnessed as the leaders of today and tomorrow.”
Meydari urged active participation of the private sector and civil society organizations in partnership with governments “not as recipients of aid, but as the main actors in the cooperative arena.” He warned that conventional policies would fail without embracing the culture of cooperation. “If the documents and efforts of the United Nations and other institutions have not yielded results, the reason is ignoring this culture,” he said.
The conference comes against the backdrop of the United Nations naming 2025 as the “International Year of Cooperatives.” In a June 24, 2024 General Assembly resolution, the UN invited all countries and international organizations to establish national committees and mobilize public and private sector capacities to advance the theme.
Meydari also drew on a parable to emphasize the value of solidarity with a metaphor from ‘the story of the pigeons caught in a net,’ the first lesson of which, translated into more than 200 languages over 2,700 years ago, is that there is no room for dispute and the freedom of each depends on the freedom of the other.
“Just as the pigeons were able to lift the net through cooperation, humanity today also needs coordinated collective action to escape war, poverty and global crises,” the minister said.
“If we accept the spirit of cooperation and remain committed to our responsibilities, we can realize this year’s motto,” Meydari added. “We will be able to build a better world with cooperatives, because only through cooperation can we lift the net.”