Parliament motion on Cooperatives Societies Act proposes setting up of bank

Small Business Minister Jason Azzopardi has tabled a motion for the bill to amend the Cooperatives Societies Act which proposes the setting up of a bank for the co-operatives.

Speaking at the premises of the Koperattiva Rurali Manikata, in Manikata, Azzopardi said that there were around 55 cooperatives in Malta who had approximately 5,000 members collectively contributing some €80 million into the economy.

The minister said that one of the better ways to help the sustainability of co-operatives was setting up a bank.

"To the contrary of commercial banks, the main aim of a cooperative bank is not to make profits at all cost but to safeguard the long-term wellbeing of its members," Azzopardi said.

He said that consultative meetings have already been held between the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and cooperatives banks in Italy.

Azzopardi said that such banks in Italy were the least affected by the economic crisis, since their goal was to not sell as much dividends as possible.

Among others, the bill also encourages setting up more cooperatives and better governance of the fund used to collect the co-operatives' proceeds.

"We are also proposing that the cooperative board becomes an authority," he said.

Another important milestone proposed in the bill is the setting up of social co-operatives, where individuals with special needs or are disadvantaged in any other way become members of such a cooperative.

"The idea is that we incentivise them to participate in public tenders. Such positive discrimination would see these persons given the opportunity to work, who because of their situation, would otherwise be not able to participate in public procurement," the minister said, adding that government was working closely with the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM) on this issue.

Marking the international day for co-operatives, Azzopardi also toured the premises of the framers' co-operative in Manikata, who have restored the land formerly used as a dumping ground by the British armoury.

The cooperative, set in 2007, today has 29 members and employs eight part-timers.

The land is not only used by the farmers to cultivate their crops but also serves for educational purposes. Only last year, 3,300 students visited the area to learn more about agricultural life and farm animals.