New Delhi: The first ever ‘India International Cooperatives Trade Fair’(IICTF), which offers an international marketing stage for cooperative-to-cooperative trade within India and abroad, has been launched at Pragati Maidan here on October 11. The Fair assumes significance in the backdrop of as many as 94% of total farmers in India being members of at least one cooperative institution.
The 3-day event, being organised as part of the efforts to boost farmers’ income, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar. The Fair will focus on promoting exports of key agriculture commodities and products..
While addressing the inaugural ceremony, Tomar said “Today is a proud day for all as on this pure land of India, an event of this scale is being organised by NCDC along with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and Ministry of Commerce”. The Minister said that it is the result of all their combined efforts that we have witnessed such wide participation not just from Indian cooperatives but also from International ones from 35 countries across the globe.
He expressed happiness and said that IICTF offers huge opportunity for the industry and business houses from India and abroad to build alliances, business networking, product sourcing and above all, interacting with the primary producers of a wide range of products and service providers. The Minister said that this event will introduce Indian products to a wider Indian and International market and also provide an opportunity for participating countries to showcase their products in the Indian market.
He added “ that cooperation is at the core of Indian values and culture. He said that any cooperative, if has good cooperative feeling then no one can stop it from progressing but if the cooperative feeling is missing then it will be difficult for them to progress and prosper. This event is a historic occasion for discussing threadbare the challenges being faced by Cooperatives across the nation. He cited the example of Amul saying it is a cooperative which has succeeded in entering every home of the country”.
While inaugurating IICTF Tomar also launched government focus’s programmes like Start-up India and Stand-up India aimed at young entrepreneurs with new and innovative ideas, National Cooperative Development Corporation(NCDC) has formulated YuvaSahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme 2019. SahakarBharati, the single largest organisation focusing on enlightening masses about the benefit of cooperative movement .
