Ariel Guarco: “We are the Sixth Largest Economy!”
Ariel Guarco: “We are the Sixth Largest Economy!” ICA President Ariel Guarco visited Manila on February 5 & 6 and met with 100 co-op leaders. Read on and be inspired! You introduced me as a “new friend”. I am not a friend. I am family! It is indeed a great honor to be before all of you today.
I am full of joy for sharing in your experiences and I am learning from what you are doing in your own cooperative.
It took me only 35 hours flying time to get here.
It’s not that you are far away from me, but I am far away from you.
It comes to my mind every time I board a plane, we are a movement that puts persons in the center of development, and there is no substitute to meeting people face-to-face.
We look forward to knowing each other better. How can you share something you don’t know?
If we don’t learn from each other, it would be difficult to advance our movement.
I heard the emcee say that we are about to hear wise words from the authority on this. But I am here to learn from all of you.
I would like to re-state what was said earlier and what I would like to share with you. There are two different presentations; the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the ICA 2030 Vision.
If you have a good memory, you will notice that most of those seventeen SDGs were part of the Millennium Development Goals
It simply says that we have failed in them.
Something we committed ourselves to doing so. We promised ourselves but have been totally unable to see it fulfilled.
Wait. There’s more, and it’s bad!
I met with the UN Council and took stock of what had been achieved if we continue at this pace by 2030 we’ll have 30% of what we promised ourselves we would do.
So sit back with the next development goals
The function of the cooperative leaders in the cooperatives.
We are committed to be part of this development . . .
That is why ICA has signed up for the sustainable goals . . . we are in the 17th Goal because we are going to be part of that global alliance and partnership
That is part of our DNA. We’ve been programmed. We’ve been doing this all our lives. We are committed to the growth of the persons and the places where we are operating and it is nothing new to us.
Hindi naman sa binubuhat natin ang upuan but the UN Secretary general even said there is no institution like the cooperatives that can advance the SDGs . . .he said so. It is not us talking about ourselves
There is a political leader . . . no less than the Pope who said: “You can’t expect someone who’s only looking for the bottomline to care for the plan
We are a people-centered economy. And we are speaking about ourselves.
Co-ops are the economy in the hands of the people.
And that’s why we’re destined to protect our home. What’s our home? The planet! The planet that we inherited from the past and the planet that we are going to turn over to the next generation.
We’ve signed up for this and we are part and parcel of the Vision for the second decade of cooperativism.
We have not changed. It’s the world that has changed.
So let’s all get started. We all signed in Kuala Lumpur where the General Assembly met and we took action on the SDGs. It was there that we got an extremely strong mandate from the membership to come up with a new strategic plan that resulted from consultations and caucuses reaching out to all the members, and then by sectors, and then brought this first draft. If you remember worked on a Blueprint.
That was the first decade. Now we have this draft which we brought to Kigali, Rwanda where we came up with a new strategic development plan for the cooperative. And then we submitted the draft in Kigali . . . we brought all the voices together and we waited another two weeks for people to bring in their views, and we tried to consolidate that into what is probably the final version of the strategic plan.
And then we created a working group that tried to bring all these things together into coherence with rhyme and reason, submitted to the (ICA) Board in Brussels wherein we finalized this strategic plan.
And then all of this will be submitted at the next General Assembly in December in Seoul (South Korea) which also happens to be the 125th Anniversary of the Declaration of the Cooperative Identity.
We know that there is a ‘before’ and ‘after’ the declaration of the Cooperative Identity which happened 125 years ago. This was really a turning point for us.
This will be an opportunity not only for us to exchange and learn from each other, but a recommitment and re-affirming of our cooperative identity . . . things that we have been advocating and advancing in the last years.
If you see the slides, you will recognize many of the statements are included in our statutes and bylaws.
No need to translation because you can all read!
It’s really uncomfortable to read things and say things that are spelled out because I know you can read. But I have chosen to do so deliberately because I want you to see how we recognize our statutes in those. I want you to say it from your heart and say: “Are we doing it?”
Si! (Yes!)
Silencio! (Silence!)
This morning I spent the whole morning in Baclaran Vendors Development Cooperative and one member asked: “What’s the meaning of being part of the ICA for a simple primary like mine?”
First, I like to share with you that you come from the Philippines and I come from Argentina but we’re all heirs to one tradition, to one vision. We’re all part of a network. The feeling that you’re not alone is already a benefit in itself. That’s the first thing you should realize as a primary.
And the second thing is something very close to my heart, which is football. If there’s no FIFA, the federation of football associations, we couldn’t play football because we wouldn’t have the common and shared the rules for the sport worldwide. So without ICA we wouldn’t have the Cooperative Identity we’ve had for the last 125 years, with the shared values and principles. We would just be like any other business organization. We wouldn’t be what we are.
I want to stress it again. If we are not true to our principles and values we are no different from any other business organization. (Applause)
Why do I say this? Because we know that many cooperatives that scale up, the values and principles become excess luggage – an anchor that doesn’t let them row any further.
And it’s often that those big cooperatives, when they have a premium product, they present it just like any other business organization.
Trust me on this. As they say in my country, I am reading from the Monday headlines . . . because if they go that way, that is the best guarantee to failure. They will stop being the cooperative that you were born to be.
(Silence.)
You seem very sad. I trust that you agree with me fully! (laughter- Audience replies “Si!”)
Our ethical values of Honesty, Openness and Self-Help . . . if we do not embrace our cooperative identity, if we do not allow that identity to cascade to other organizations, we will face an existential crisis that we may not survive as cooperatives.
I would like to share the following. These values are what make us different from any other form of business. We must continue dreaming that there is a possible better world!
Now, if you turn values into action, those are our principles.
Now don’t feel that you are in a cage of principles.
Our principles will change. They may not be the same principles at the start of the cooperative movement. Some pay lip service to this. We have to turn this into action. Let me insert something.
Next month I am going to publish my second book which is “Cooperative Principles Put into Action.” (Applause)
The cooperative movement is spread across every geographic region. Its multi-sectoral character and the sharing of a common identity. To the ICA the cooperative movement forms a well-defined global network , which is the source of our strength.
Our weakness is there is limited cooperation among cooperatives limited commitment to sharing of resources and a significant lack of participation by the cooperatives. In terms of opportunities, we have business connections and information-sharing through a new generation of information technology and common I.T. platforms.
Active participation by youth and women in the cooperative network .
New and emerging (business) models in the social and solidarity economy.
Of the 1.2 million cooperatives, there are 280 million jobs created. We are 10% of the world economy. We will be the sixth (biggest) economy in the world if the cooperatives were a country. So the 1.2 billion persons who are members of a cooperative.
One in six worldwide.
Do you realize that we can even change the Pope?
We can set a condition that you cannot be a Pope if you’re not with a cooperative!
If we all agreed, the president would be a member of a co-op.
But we have been struggling for visibility.
For decades we keep asking to have a greater impact in our society.
And we are celebrating, rejoicing and jumping around because . . . one Senator met us yesterday! :[ (laughter)
We should have hundreds of Congressman, Senators and a President defending cooperativism.
We must be doing something wrong with all these principles not going into action!
Maybe we don’t cooperate among each other as much as we should. (Applause)
And that’s what we should work on.
But there’s a silver lining in the phrase.
Obviously I.T. and telco can make us into a communications hub that is efficient worldwide.
But let’s make sure that those technologies are for the service of the human being.
And not that we are serving technology that will threaten job opportunities.
We have yet another great opportunity in technology that have advanced very well in this country.
We must ensure women’s participation.
And another opportunity is making the young people part of the cooperative — NOW.
(Applause)
Let me again draw parallelism with football.
We are owners of a great team. It’s the cooperative football club.
And the players are great senior persons who know a lot with great experience.
So there is a young guy: “Would you like to join our club?”
And he says, “Of course! I want a cooperative life.”
“Can I pray the next cooperative match?
“No, go to the bench first and learn from us. Watch and learn.”
And then the guy says “Okay, I will sit on the bench, I’ll learn from you. But how long will I be in the bench?”
“20 . . . 30 years!”
It’s not funny to make someone wait 20 or 30 years.
Let’s be honest. This is a war of attrition. The young people don’t go up until someone dies!” (Laughter)
Let’s get the young people playing in the first minute of the ballgame!
We cannot expect them to score the goals, but they have to play.
(Applause)
We are in the midst of incredible challenges. Challenges that the world has never ever faced before.
I am not only talking about the threat of climate change. I am talking about human behavior . . . how insensitive we have grown to become.
We see migrations brought about by misunderstandings between peoples.
And more and more nations that are rejecting those migrants.
We build more fences than bridges.
I am not talking about physical borders but virtual barriers that we put between people.
I’m talking about the financial instability we are facing which governs our lives
There’s been a study on how 50% of the world’s wealth is owned by 1% of the population. But lately there’s been a study that If we’re going to get the persons who own 99% of the world’s wealth, they can fit in one bus.
But I was stunned that many years back, there were 80 persons on board (that bus)
That means that the ownership shrank 24%.
If you look at the figures now, we’re talking about 26 persons who control 99% of the world’s riches.
And by 2025, only nine persons will control the world’s wealth.
Three production, three logistics, and three distribution.
So you’re taking about market economy? What market economy is controlled by only 9 persons in the whole world?
But worry not. The cooperatives are still here.
And that’s why the Strategic Plan for 2030 is so important.
And you can see that we are heirs of the first blueprint. The five pillars we speak about are . . . for co-op form of business by 2020 to become:
- The acknowledged leader economic, social, and environmental sustainability
- The model preferred by people
- The fastest growing form of enterprise
To realize this vision by the end of the new decade we must establish measurable indicators.
This is the three thrusts and vision of the Blueprint. We have kept them because of unfinished business, something we have to continue working on.
And now we go to the Strat Plan per se. In the Strat Plan, the cooperative identity emphasizes Values and Principles. We promote the identity first. We affirm the Declaration of 1995 , that’s the framework for our Strategic Plan. So we can witness among ourselves and the public at large the significance and importance of this Cooperative Identity.
For cooperatives to be further recognized by international organizations.
And that cooperative will be part of studies and all school subject matters.
We have to work in regulation and legislation to protect that Identity.
I heard a while ago and I knew that there are tax exemptions and tax spreads for cooperatives in the Philippines.
It is every so often that the Government will try to narrow those benefits that you are enjoying
We must make a comparative study of the laws on cooperativism worldwide.
It will allow us to argue and say: “Look, this country is not as strict as we are asking you . . . it’s the product of a comparative study!”
So we need further comparative study to make strategy to face these problems and challenges
A cooperative world could be the best world we could live in
We could reach that utopia that we have a 100% country or world which is cooperative but does not pay taxes to the state. How do you expect the state to survive?
Because (? 32:23) if we are not . . . others will think that for us.
To promote the identity is central.
Cooperative education is core.
We have to work at that at every stage. We have to introduce cooperatives in schools, we have to include cooperatives in the syllabus of the curriculum of the kids.
We must promote the cooperative brand!
How many of you use “.coop”?
(Few raise their hands)
I guess the others have their hands glued to the chair! (Laughter)
Let’s use “.coop” for our branding.
It’s cheap. It identifies who we are.
It integrates us. Makes us visible, and thus contributes to the growth of the cooperative movement.
We are sometimes very indigenous . . . we intermingle among ourselves only. We don’t go to other world.
Our family has to grow. Got to have more involvement and bring in new blood.
We need to have a global, international approach.
We have to tell the next generation about what co-ops bring to us and their comparative advantage. And to attain this, we have identified a series of tasks that we have to carry out.
We should establish linkages within the alliance.
Do you know that when we talk about ICA, it is 18 bodies that form part of a greater body?
We have a global central office, four regional offices, eight sectors, and five thematic groups. And sometimes these 18 offices operate under total autonomy, apart from the other seventeen.
I want all 18 to work in sync.
We have to increase the capitalization of the cooperatives to increase participation in the real economy.
We must have a greater share or contribution to the GDP worldwide.
Studies show that if cooperatives buy only from cooperatives, their GDP contribution would double.
How can we even dare to sell to a third party when we don’t buy among ourselves?
(APPLAUSE)
We need cooperation among and between cooperatives.
That is one way to ensure optimization of the resources that we have.
To have a greater impact and a more significant response to the SDGs.
So we have objectives that we have identified for ourselves.
First, appreciation of our shared interest. Better understanding of the situation we are in based on the evidence and data and distribute it among all of us.
And that will secure that those who have scaled up and have greater muscle can pull those who are lagging behind among the cooperatives.
We will put together a think tank . . . an entrepreneurial think tank.
And this is composed of 15 people with experience. We will use data and see how we can pull up those who are left behind.
This is an asset group to come up with a body of knowledge we can all benefit from.
And next is our contribution to the global sustainable development
In SDG Goal #17 we are committed to be part of that international partnership for development.
And the best thing we can do is that we’ve been committed to this since birth. It’s in our very origin.
We have to able to measure and quantify what we are doing.
That is why these metrics will say how much each cooperative contributes to the overall development.
Finally, to reach the Question-Answer portion, what we have to do is come up with a Strategic Plan that responds to the economic, social, cultural and environmental needs of our members.
Which is the basic DNA or identity of our cooperatives.
We have 12% of the world population.
We’re just not fully aware of the capacity and potential that that signifies.
Each and everyone has a great responsibility worldwide, and an incredible amount of responsibility at the local level. How can we find local solutions to the problems if we don’t understand the global solutions that are required?
So I appeal to all to work day in, day out in each of your primary cooperatives and join the challenge of building a better world, for a more inclusive society, a more fair society.
In essence, to build a better world!
And to build a better world was entrusted to us in 2012 by the United Nations.
Pope Francis has asked us in a message he gave to the social movement in Bolivia some years back: “I appeal to all the cooperatives to go beyond the boundaries of change.”
We are ready to go beyond any boundary any frontier. It’s only possible if we believe that we can build a better world and we can work hand in hand for that world.
Thank you very much.
BALU IYER
Let me give a few observations. I like to congratulate you all for supporting Ambisyon 2040. ICA is only talking about 2030 but you are going beyond.
And it is very interesting to see the six clusters and what you want to do very well laid out.
Ariel guarco mentioned the first strategic initiative of ICA that focuses on identity. While you have few registered in “.coop” Everytime I go to another country I have the Philippines as my reference point because I think 60 or 70% of Filipinos wear t-shirts that have “coop” on them.
Let me congratulate you on that because that is one very solid way to demonstrate identity. “.coop” definitely helps, but I think you are doing a great job to put as part of your 2040 , you need to have something like the ICA strategic plan and how to promote the cooperative identity.
Another important matter is education. That is solidly lacking in the cooperative sector. Ariel mentioned about young people and he gave the example of football.
That they come to join us but they sit on the bench!
But who is actually coming out and inviting them to join us. That is very limited. Malaysia is a very good example because they start from school cooperatives. So from a young age they inculcate the cooperative values and principles.
In Nepal, they are trying to see how they can include cooperatives as part of the curriculum. Thru education, we can promote the cooperative.
We also need to see how to include youth and gender as part of the vision.
Finally I think we should have a baseline. It’s important to have a dream but if we don’t have a baseline, from which we can measure ourselves, having a good data system how we can link our vision to actual targets. And then, we can measure ourselves beyond 2040, but also in the interim years.
In the AP, it is one of the fastest growing regions for the ICA. We are close to 109 members from 32 countries and still growing. And Philippines is one of our star members with 10 members.
It’s just not being members of ICA, but its t
Innovation that you are bringing in. this morning when we went to the Baclaran development cooperative, they are into the Kaya Platform. And it was very well demonstrated that it is efficient. Innovation! What you are doing with the Kaya Payment Platform is one good innovation that cooperatives in the region can learn.
The Philippines is not just a member but very supportive. As we speak, the Global Youth forum is having its final day in Malaysia and there are 6 representatives there from NATCCO, from MASS-SPECC , not only as participants but also as trainers.
And one of the discussions is on the SDGs: How can we make cooperatives count to implement the SDGs?
The message we need to communicate to the youth: “What do you want to do after college?” they don’t want to work in a place where their voice doesn’t count. Or where they just talk about profit. They want to work in a place where they feel recognized and they have voice. And there is no better place than the cooperative model! We talk about being open, or one-member-one-vote. We are an economic enterprise. That is the message we need to communicate. We are not organizations that depend on funding, we can generate resources. Young people want to work in start-ups. And what is better than a cooperative? People coming together to start an enterprise.
PCSO – GET check from Mr. Ompong – refund for taxes. Or Mr. de Luna