Preparations are afoot to hold the biggest global cooperative conclave at Quebec City next month. Top experts and thousands of executives, decision-makers, managers and leaders from the cooperative community and other sectors will be converging here, claims ICA press release.
Indian cooperators drawn from various cooperatives including IFFCO, Kribhco, NCUI and others are also preparing to participate in the show.
It is the third edition of the International Summit of Cooperatives, an initiative of the Desjardins Group and the International Co-operative Alliance. This year, the Summit is highlighting “cooperatives’ power to act,” a key instrument for sustainable development.
The release also highlights the achievement of coops. The cooperative model contributes just as much to global prosperity; the 2.6 million cooperatives and mutuals with 1 billion members worldwide generate US$3 trillion annually and some 250 million direct and indirect jobs.
The world’s 300 largest cooperatives alone produce combined turnover equal to Canada’s GDP. The vital forces of the cooperative community from 103 countries will therefore create fertile ground for discussions on sustainable growth, it says.
Five leading experts will share their insights on the new global socioeconomic and geopolitical realities. Joseph Stiglitz, professor at Columbia University in the City of New York and winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Jeremy Rifkin, American prospective essayist, Robert Reich, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and prominent opinion leader, Mark Kramer, founder and managing director of the FSG consulting firm in Boston, and Navi Radjou, eminent innovation and leadership advisor based in California, will discuss the major issues of the 21st century and the business models most conducive to global prosperity.
More than 200 internationally renowned speakers will address the specific challenges faced by cooperatives and mutuals, and will propose concrete solutions to strengthen their role as the vector for social and economic change.