Tuesday at the BRH Convention Center, Aviol Fleurant, the Minister of Planning launched the symposium of the National Council of Cooperatives (CNC) on the theme "the challenges of the Haitian cooperative sector" which brought together various community organizations, representatives of non-governmental organizations and senior government officials.

In his intervention, Serge Chery, the Director General of the CNC, which represents 251 cooperatives including 154 agricultural cooperatives and 64 savings and credit cooperatives, said that in order for the cooperative sector to enjoy a certain autonomy, the CNC worked tirelessly with the Ministry of Planning on the creation of the national cooperative development fund, which would serve to oversee the projects of cooperatives and members.

In addition he announced a series of projects including the launch of the national journal of cooperatives and a partnership with the Ministry of National Education to initiate a course on the basics of the cooperative for students of the 3rd fundamental cycle.

For its part, the Minister responsible for the CNC, ME Aviol Fleurant, advocated for capacity building of the CNC to provide specialized resources for cooperative development such as the supervision, support and expertise needed by the entrepreneurs who wish to proceed with the creation of cooperative enterprises, their consolidation, the recovery or the succession of enterprises by the cooperative formula.

In addition, Minister Fleurant announced that his ministry would include in the 2018-2019 budget a guarantee fund of 20 million gourdes for cooperatives in the country, stressing that this fund will serve as a guarantee to the National Bank of Credit ( BNC) or the Haitian People's Bank (BPH) to enable agricultural cooperatives and members to expand their activities.

HL/ S/ HaitiLibre