THE assets of the Co-operative Movement in Guyana amount to $15B.

This says Labour Minister Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul, makes it the third largest financial institution in the country.
He said that this resource base gives cooperatives the capability of becoming a major economic force in job and wealth creation and the development of Guyana.
“The movement has what it takes. All that is required is accountability and proper and effective management for it to achieve its full potential for the benefit of all Guyanese”.
Dr. Gopaul made the remarks while declaring open a technical workshop on the role of cooperatives in nation building and the development of small and medium business enterprises (SMEs).
The workshop is being held by the Ministry of Labour in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as part of the ILO’s Decent Work Country Programme(DWCP).
The DWCPs have been established as the main vehicle for delivery of ILO support to countries, promoting decent work as a key component of national development strategies, and at the same time, organising ILO knowledge, instruments, advocacy and cooperation at the service of tripartite constituents of these countries.
The venue is the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union Labour College on High Street, Kingston, and the participants include members of cooperatives countrywide.
The main resource person is Mr. Kelvin Sergeant, ILO Specialist on Sustainable Enterprise Development and Job Creation, and the programme, which began yesterday, ends tomorrow.
During the opening formalities of the programme, Sergeant disclosed that he will discuss with participants topics such as a definition of what a cooperative is, the economic and social functions of cooperatives, the principles, ideas and practices of cooperatives, business planning, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis,  financial planning, the role of modern management, the importance of meetings and what it takes to establish a good cooperative.
The opening session was chaired by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labor Human Services and Social Security, Ms. Lorene Baird, and other speakers included Mr. Samuel Goolsarran of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industries Ltd. (CAGI), Mr. Norris Witter of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and Mr. Carville Duncan of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG).