Media release 22/11/04

"In today's globalised economy the co-operative movement is extremely well placed to exploit the advantages it represents. Unfettered liberal free market globalisation is one thing; co-operative globalisation is another, and I see movement towards us," said Iain McDonald, Director-General of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA).

Addressing a meeting at the Australian Centre for Co-operative Research and Development (ACCORD) at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) today, MacDonald said that people are fed up with the ENRONs of this world and are increasingly looking at the co-operative option.

"We must exploit this opportunity. Co-operative enterprises provide 100 million jobs worldwide – 20% more than multinational corporations. Co-operatives are market leaders in many industry sectors such as agriculture, but who knows about it? That's our double challenge - to take advantage of all these opportunities and spread the word."

Over 800 million people around the world are already members of co-operatives. Co-operatives not only serve their local member's needs, they also connect and co-operate globally. They share a set of internationally agreed principles and values. Because of their democratic base and unique combination of economic and social objectives, they are ideally placed to play a role in making globalisation fairer – something they have been doing for generations, according to MacDonald.

Based at the ICA headquarters in Geneva, Mr Macdonald was in Sydney this week to meet co-operative leaders as part of an ICA mission to expand the movement in Australia and New Zealand.

ACCORD is a joint venture of the University of Technology, Sydney and Charles Sturt University, and is Australia's leading research centre for co-operatives.

Further information:
Suzanne Henderson
Communications Manager
ACCORD
Phone: 0407 104 268