SHANGHAI DECLARATION SETS NEW GLOBAL AGENDA FOR COOPERATIVE TRADE – ANGKASA

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 (Bernama) -- The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has adopted the Shanghai Declaration, setting a new global direction for cooperative trade and development to build a fairer and more inclusive economy.

The declaration was signed today at the ICA Trade and Development Forum in Shanghai, held in conjunction with the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives.

Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Bhd (ANGKASA) president Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Fattah Abdullah said the declaration, titled Educational Strategy to Strengthen the Future of Cooperative Trade, marks a key milestone for the global cooperative movement.

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He said it outlines strategies to strengthen cooperation among regional and global cooperatives in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reflects a shared commitment to building a resilient, innovative and member-driven cooperative movement.

“It also emphasises that cooperative trade should be central to future development strategies, especially in fast-growing regions such as Central Asia and Africa,” he said in a statement.

Abdul Fattah, who also chairs the ICA Asia-Pacific Committee on Trade and Business said the declaration features 11 key pillars, including the future direction of cooperative trade, climate change and artificial intelligence (AI), ICA’s role beyond trade, cooperative trade exhibitions and food security, as well as the new SDGs beyond 2030.

Other pillars include government policy frameworks, the establishment of a global cooperative label, and a call for the world’s wealthiest one per cent to participate in cooperative-led social financing initiatives that can generate large-scale employment and eradicate structural poverty.

He said the declaration also calls for greater international recognition of cooperatives through the Co-op Label and .coop domain, which symbolise transparency and innovation in cooperative enterprises.

“Malaysia’s participation in this declaration reaffirms our role as a strategic partner in strengthening the regional and global cooperative movement,” he added.

During the forum, Abdul Fattah presented a paper titled Building a Regional Cooperation Framework in Asia-Pacific: Strengthening the Cooperative Trade Framework, stating that cooperatives serve as both drivers of economic growth and advocates for social and global equity.

The forum was chaired by ICA Director-General Jeroen Douglas and attended by delegates from 42 member countries, including China, India, Bangladesh, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA