Myanmar cooperatives optimistic on growth

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Published on 03 December 2012



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The open-market economic system in Myanmar has provided a lot of opportunities for Myanmar's cooperatives, making this sector a key in the country's socioeconomic development.

Today, Myanmar cooperatives are moving toward building the welfare of the society, through the guidance of the Ministry of Cooperatives and the Central Cooperative Society Limited (CCS), among others.

The Deputy Planning Officer at Myanmar's Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation, and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) Scholar, May Yee Kay Khine Seine, revealed this along with the other status and directions of Myanmar's cooperative development, during the International Conference on "Cooperative Enterprises: Key to Sustainable Economic and Social Progress," at the Searca offices in Los Baños, Laguna.

According to Seine, the history of Myanmar's cooperative societies has gone a long way, with the earliest movements founded in 1904. The Cooperative Societies Act of 1970 has given the government power to control and monitor the cooperatives in the country, following the socialist principles. As the country moved to a more liberal system, the cooperative law was revised accordingly as the Cooperative Society Law of 1992, giving birth to CCS, which is now considered the apex organization of Myanmar's cooperative movement.

"A non-governmental organization, CCS is now considered as a strong partner of cooperatives in promoting and strengthening their social and economic enterprises, including the development of international collaborations," she added.

Today, Myanmar has been supporting different types of cooperatives, with the credit cooperatives playing the most significant role in micro-financing for social development. As such, more and more entrepreneurs and traders are joining the movement, which now has approximately 400,000 members.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/12/02/myanmar-cooperatives-optimistic-on-growth/