The Institute of Development and Cooperative Credit (Idecoop) It fulfills the role of control, supervision, governance, education and, above all, with the promotion of cooperativism.
So This is stated by the administrator president of Idecoop, Franco de los Santos, who has held that position since August 2020, and highlighted that during his administration, through decrees, 828 cooperatives have been created, and that there are more than 300 that are in the process of being incorporated. .
As to whether Idecoop’s role has changed over time, the official explained that it has not. “The role is the same. The only thing is that now it is being fulfilled, because in the past what Idecoop did was limited”.
And he adds: “Now we are focused on that issue, because we understand that President Luis Abinader believes that cooperativism is a very expeditious path for the development of peoples, and we are already seeing that.”
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He stressed that since there are cooperatives that are producing different items in the countryside and some cities, this means that cooperatives are an agile path for the development of the country.
“In addition, due to its formation system, it is different from a company, it is durable over time and since their money or capital is handled by them as cooperatives, that is why cooperatives are strong institutions,” said the official interviewed in his office.
He stressed that cooperatives have been the strongest element in the face of all crises, and recalled that during the great Depression Of 1929, when the entire financial system collapsed, cooperativism remained strong in the United States and Europe.
He argued that during the economic crisis generated by the covid-19 pandemic, the only institutions that did not close and that were offering services to their associates were the cooperatives.
He recalled that the fundamental purpose of cooperatives is not profit, but solidarity, education and participation; and that, since their profit is for the partners, each year they distribute the surplus in proportion to the investment made by each partner.
Currently the country has 1,694 cooperatives. Idecoop plans to close this year with 2,300 of these entities and more than 2.5 million members.
The creation of a virtual office is considered a very powerful platform, in which people can access from anywhere, and which has allowed Idecoop to more easily fulfill its role.
“On the platform you will find all the requirements, documents and the first steps for training and education to form a cooperative,” he said.
The cooperatives have to make some reports to Idecoop through that virtual office, about their audited financial statements that must be delivered every three months, he said.
“Technology is an element that cannot be ignored in any area of life and, fundamentally, in an institution like Idecoop”, manifested.
The official announced that a preliminary bill is being finalized that will cover all the laws of the cooperative sector, so that in the coming months a new law can be put in place that puts that institution on the rails of modernity that cooperatives so much need.
Idecoop is based on two laws: the 31, of 1963; and 127, from 1964which are obsolete and must be readjusted to the new times, he considered.
However, to make the changes that the sector deserves, the board of directors has had to issue devices to achieve adjustments, he said.
More than six thousand cooperative leaders, especially the new ones, are trained in different regions of the country: Línea Noroeste and Cibao Central, he said.
