Latest Book Reviews the experiences of 6 Arab countries in the fields of cooperatives, By Ashraf Al Said

Latest Book Reviews the experiences of 6 Arab countries in the fields of cooperatives
By Ashraf Al Said
In this reference entitled "Cooperative Organizations in the Arab World", the author, Dr. Moustafa El-Abdallah Al Kafry, Professor of Economics at the University of Damascus, sails to several Arab countries that have cooperative experiences, whether consumer, productive´-or-residential, and has analyzed some aspects of the cooperative movement in six Arab countries: Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Tunisia and Yemen, and this book is located in 742 pages of medium cut and includes ten chapters.
Genesis of the cooperation:
Natural cooperation (innate) has arisen with the birth of man and his sense of need for his fellow man and the work of individuals in primitive life jointly and collective work and joint ownership of the means of production appeared, then the concept of cooperation evolved over time to become an economic and social organization aimed at protecting vulnerable groups and small producers and consumers and standing in the face of exploitation and social and economic contradictions left by the capitalist feudal system Cooperation (a type of human behavior seen in different, human eras resorted to by man in his work and in his actions Cooperation is a means to improve the reality of cooperative members in economic and social terms, not an end in itself, and cooperation has achieved positive and tangible results and proved its usefulness throughout the ages and in various socio-economic systems in the world. Ibn Khaldun (1332 – 1406) was the first to try to give a material explanation for the people s quest to meet, which is their need to earn and cooperate to obtain a livelihood and says in it: (The ability of one of the human beings is deficient in the collection of his need of food).
Organized Cooperation:
In his introduction to the book, the author explained in the first chapter that cooperation leads to the speed of completion of work, and also presented cooperation and cooperative society, then listed a classification of cooperative societies, then identified the basic principles of cooperation, the objectives of cooperatives and their relationship with the state, and discussed the subject of cooperative ownership and cooperative organizational evidence. Since the emergence of the organized cooperative movement associated with the name of the early pioneers of textile workers almost 150 years ago, cooperatives have been looking forward to Achieving real development that raises the standard of living of its members. In addition to the general principles formulated by these free weavers and those who supported them intellectually, they also had a very important position when they declared: "We must rise from the buyer of the needs of the members to their manufacture and cultivation, thus providing ourselves with the profits of a team that is not ours, and uniting above all for ourselves the means of honest work."
The importance of cooperation in the economies of Arab countries:
In this chapter, the author discussed the role of cooperation in the socio-economic policy of the state, the role of the League of Arab States in supporting the cooperative movement through the Committee of Arab Cooperation Experts, the issuance of the Charter of the Arab Cooperative Movement and the establishment of the -union- and Arab Cooperation, as well as the most important problems and difficulties facing the Arab cooperative movement and some cooperatives have become historically deep in a number of countries of the Arab world, where the date of the issuance of the first law of cooperation in Egypt dates back to 1923, and the first cooperative had appeared. In Egypt fifteen years ago, but in other countries such as Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan and Syria, the beginnings of the cooperative movement and its legislation emerged during the forties of this century.
The cooperative movement in the Arab world was characterized by its popular character at first, and then began to operate under the umbrella and supervision of governments. Its activities are mostly concentrated in service areas. Few of them practice joint productive work, and for agricultural cooperatives, the nature of their work has not yet been decided in a practical and convincing manner for their members, whether it is service´-or-productive, and its requirements must be provided.
Organizational Structure of the Cooperative Movement in Syria:
In the third chapter, the author touched on the cooperative movement in Syria, where productive and non-productive cooperative organizations play an effective role in implementing the plans of the state in Syria, and contribute to the process of socio-economic development, and Dr. Yahya Bakour, Secretary-General of the -union- of Arab Agricultural Engineers at the time, explains that cooperative societies are an economic base capable of forming a strong, solid and scientific basis for rebuilding the collapsed national economy in underdeveloped countries. Especially if we know that these associations are popular organizations to the degree The first is that its members are prepared to accept the idea of preparing for the future and bearing the current difficulties for it, and it is in the second place devices that enable the government to identify the real feelings and preparations of a large number of the population regarding the projects that the state intends to implement in addition to projects for cooperative societies.
In this chapter, the author tried to present the experiences of the Arab countries in the field of cooperation, so he presented to us in this chapter the Syrian experience in building the organizational structure of the cooperative movement, talking about the Supreme Council for Cooperation and the Cooperative -union-, its establishment and management, sources of funding, exemptions and privileges it enjoys, and how it carries out its accounting work, the distribution of profits and losses, and what control it exercises over the work of the association and the method of its liquidation and the dissolution of the cooperative society. .
Agricultural Cooperative Societies in Egypt:
As for Egypt s cooperative experience, the author devoted the fourth chapter to talk about agricultural cooperatives, explaining the advantages that distinguish the cooperative economy from the individual peasant economy, then he was exposed to cooperative legislation in Egypt and how the cooperative movement was framed, then he explained the structure of the cooperative structure in Egypt and the agricultural revolution that occurred during the era of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser through the application of the Agrarian Reform Law, and what are the types of agricultural cooperative societies in Egypt and their areas of activity, especially agricultural cooperatives in credit areas. Agricultural, agricultural cooperatives in land reclamation areas.
It may be difficult for the individual farmer on his small farm to buy a tractor´-or-harvester alone, and it is difficult for him to secure various agricultural mechanisms, use and develop chemistry,´-or-establish his own modern irrigation network. Only agricultural cooperative societies are able to help the farmer in securing such requirements, as through agricultural cooperatives the land is distributed in larger areas for the work of large mechanisms, and provides mechanization in the agricultural production process, and can also establish huge networks for irrigation, and the use of chemical fertilizers, all of this certainly leads to raising the level of production, reducing workloads and reducing the cost of production, and that associations are unlimited for the use of organization Modern scientific in production, work and management and to benefit from the modern scientific and technical revolution in the agricultural economy.
Craft production cooperatives in Syria:
In the fifth chapter, the author explained the importance of craft industries and their role in the Syrian national economy, and also talked about the craft cooperative society in Syria, how is it established? What are its objectives? And the method of financing and management, then dealt with the General -union- of Craft Societies, which supervises all craft cooperative societies in Syria and includes the craft sector many economic activities and these activities can be divided into two main branches:
1- Craft industries: such as carpet industry, handmade weaving, furniture, jewelry, jewelry, and others.
2- Service crafts such as butchery, shaving, cleaning clothes and others.
Consumer cooperatives in Tunisia:
The author dealt in the sixth chapter with the emergence of consumer cooperatives in the Republic of Tunisia and how they grew and developed in the beginning, and how these associations relapsed and declined, and consumer cooperation was defined as the -union- of workers, farmers and various groups of low-income people in order to bring the necessary products and distribute them in the best ways and the most appropriate prices, as the author explained the conditions and ingredients necessary for the success of consumer cooperative societies. What happened in Tunisia at the beginning of the establishment of cooperatives, then these conditions and ingredients declined, which led to the decline of the role of cooperatives.
Cooperative organizations in the State of Kuwait:
The author reviewed in the seventh chapter how the organized cooperative activity began in the State of Kuwait, how the Kuwaiti consumer cooperative movement developed and what are the future prospects of the cooperative movement in Kuwait, and the cooperative activity began in the State of Kuwait in 1941 and the first school cooperative society was established in the blessed school and then other cooperative societies appeared in some schools, and consumer cultural associations were established since 1955 and in 1963, after the issuance of the Constitution of the State of Kuwait, the first consumer cooperative society was established Officially in residential areas on the outskirts of Kuwait, the consumer cooperative movement spread and flourished in Kuwait.
Objectives of Consumer Cooperatives in Kuwait:
The author concluded by saying that consumer cooperatives in the State of Kuwait seek to achieve two great goals: The first is economic: the aim is to focus attention and attention on the development of economic fields through the concerted efforts of individuals with public needs and interests within the framework of a specific organization is the cooperative society One of the advantages of this organization is the mobilization of all available human and material resources in order to deliver services continuously to the group of individuals that make up this organization´-or-deal with them, and the second: Social is intended to focus attention on social development through a series of formal and informal procedures and regulations that emanate from the economic objective and are designed mainly to protect small´-or-low-income earners from exploitation and greed.
The cooperative movement in Jordan and the role of housing cooperatives in solving the housing problem:
The author points out in the eighth chapter that Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan knew organized cooperation with the beginning of the British Mandate, where the Mandate government at the beginning of the third decade this century to activate cooperatives that serve its interests and issued in 1933 some laws that regulate the establishment of cooperative societies under the Mandate, and was the establishment of food and raw materials needed, and after the issuance of the partition decision in Palestine in 1948 and the annexation of the West Bank to the East Bank in 1950, the Jordanian government began to work on Cooperatives and the cooperative movement have developed since 1952, and issued the new cooperation law in 1956, which had a great impact on organizing and framing the Jordanian cooperative movement.
First Agricultural Cooperative in:
The movement of establishing cooperative societies of various kinds in Jordan has been active and developed horizontally and vertically, and agricultural cooperatives rank first (42%), followed by housing cooperatives (19.3%) and then multi-purpose cooperative societies, followed by mutual benefit cooperatives. The author tried in this chapter to monitor the development of the Jordanian cooperative movement and the emergence of the first cooperative legislation in Jordan and then explained how the housing problem evolved after the forced migration of Palestinians to Transjordan, and what is the role of housing cooperatives in solving the housing problem in Jordan.
Housing cooperative societies in Syria:
In the ninth chapter, the author discusses the emergence and development of housing cooperative societies in Syria, and how housing cooperative societies are managed through the General Authority, the Board of -dir-ectors and the Beneficiaries Authority. The author also talked about the supreme body that oversees Syrian housing cooperative societies, the General -union- for Housing Cooperation.
The cooperative movement in the Republic of Yemen:
The author also discussed in Chapter Ten the framing of the Yemeni cooperative movement after the September Revolution and since 1963, where Cooperative Law No. 11 of 1963 was issued, and for not specifying the party responsible for implementing these laws through the stage of practical application as a result of what it was suffering from due to the conditions of the civil war, these laws remained ineffective, and the cooperative legislation that tried to frame the cooperative movement in Yemen was influenced by the experiences of cooperative Arab countries and local experiences (starting with the formation of charities´-or-Rather, forms of charitable cooperation have arisen among intellectuals and urban workers.
The chapter included the emergence of cooperation in Yemen, how the cooperative movement was framed, what are the institutions of leadership and management of the Yemeni cooperative movement, then reviewed the organizational structure of the cooperative movement in Yemen, and discussed the subject of the cooperative movement and its role in spreading education in Yemen, and how the state supports and develops cooperative societies and the cooperative movement. Conclusion:
In his book, the author concluded by focusing on the benefits, advantages and requirements of cooperation, identifying them as follows:
- A citizen can live in a house owned by a cooperative society, eat in a cooperative restaurant, buy his belongings from a cooperative store, insure his home, car and life in cooperative insurance societies, secure his needs of books, publications and publications from a cooperative association for publishing and -print-ing, and can also obtain health services from the cooperative hospital, and attend concerts in cooperative halls.
Source: Al Taawun Newspaper

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