President of NongHyup Central Association Hosts ICAO Webinar... Exploring COVID-19 Response Measures

Lee Seong-hee, President of the International Cooperative Agricultural Organization (ICAO), is conducting a webinar on the theme "The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives by Country After COVID-19" at the NongHyup Central Association headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 1st.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The International Cooperative Agricultural Organization (ICAO), chaired by Lee Seonghee, President of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF), held a webinar to explore response measures at the global agricultural cooperative level to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly advancing contactless economy.

The seminar, held on the 1st at the NACF headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, was conducted under the theme "The Role of Agricultural Cooperatives by Country after COVID-19," discussing various issues faced by farmers worldwide amid the COVID-19 situation.

This event was the first initiative promoted by Lee Seonghee, who took office as the new ICAO president in July. It marks the first step in fulfilling his inauguration pledge to enhance digital agricultural capabilities for member organizations and strengthen exchange activities between ICAO and other international agricultural organizations.

President Lee stated, "In difficult times like these, the value of cooperatives can shine even brighter," adding, "By sharing exemplary cases from various countries during the COVID era and cooperating among cooperatives, we can overcome the crisis." He further emphasized, "Korea's NACF is preparing new innovations step by step, reforming the agricultural product distribution system centered on online platforms to respond to the contactless distribution environment, and introducing advanced information technologies such as big data and AI in line with these changing times."

As the ICAO secretariat, NACF plans to listen to the status of member organizations through this seminar and comprehensively review cooperation methods among cooperatives and support measures for agricultural cooperatives in developing countries at the secretariat level, with announcements to follow.

Meanwhile, ICAO is the agricultural division of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), representing cooperatives worldwide. Established in 1951, it consists of 33 member organizations from 28 countries. Korea's NACF has served as the chair country since 1998.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.