A total of 276 cooperatives were established with an initial investment of 41 billion rials ($277,027) during the seventh Iranian month (Sept. 23-Oct. 22), which registered a 13% decline compared with the similar period of last year, the Statistical Center of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare reported.
These cooperatives have 4,474 members, creating an aggregate of 3,754 jobs, which indicates a year-on-year decline of 27% and 15% in the number of members and jobs, respectively.
Most of the cooperatives were established in Tehran (23), Khorasan Razavi (21) and Mazandaran (21). The lion’s share of the new enterprises was launched in the fields of agriculture (80) and industry (66).
A cooperative is a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the suppl of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers or farmers. Cooperative businesses are typically more economically resilient than many other forms of enterprise, with twice the number of cooperatives surviving their first five years compared with other business ownership models.
Cooperatives frequently pursue social goals that are accomplished by investing a portion of trading profits back into their communities.
The share of cooperatives sector in Iran’s gross domestic product stands at around 6%.
The parliament has tasked the government with increasing the share of cooperatives in gross domestic product to 25% by the end of the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan (March 2017-22). This share was also targeted by the Fifth Plan (2011-16), but was never realized.
According to Deputy Minister of Cooperatives Hamid Kalantari, 74 trillion rials (about $500 million) were paid in loans to cooperatives last year (March 2017-18) to support their activities.
A joint conference between the cooperative chambers of Iran and South Korea was held in Tehran earlier this week for fostering educational ties and boosting trade.
During the Monday conference, the first session of a series of educational courses was held in cooperation with ICC and the South Korean embassy.
"ICC has always been one of the main channels of developing economic activities," said ICC chief, Bahman Abdollahi, adding that the courses are in line with the chamber's legally mandated mission of promoting education and improving the scientific level of cooperatives sector.
