Community Development Minister, Gloria Shillingford, has identified cooperatives as the financial institutions which make the most significant contribution to the development of the country.
She was delivering an address to observe International Cooperative Day on Sunday, under the theme “Cooperative Enterprise, remain strong in times of crisis”.
According to Shillingford, credit unions and cooperatives are performing well, despite being hit by the global financial crisis and they continue to make a significant contribution to the social development of the country in ways that many other financial organisations do not.
“They are very strong financially and they don’t tend to have problems with capital requirements with regulators. They didn’t face a drop in 2008. They didn’t notice the banking crisis, they kept growing not dramatically but regularly,” she said.
Shillingford says further, another benefit of cooperatives is its social dimension.
“As economies shrink and pressure is placed on government to reduce on social benefits, cooperatives often provide an invaluable lifeline. Cooperatives may also be critical in delivering services like health care centers, that would otherwise come from private insurance, other state or may not be provided at all, as state budget shrink,” she said.
She said the days should be used as an opportunity to reflect on all that Cooperatives has done in good and bad times.
Ms DA anytime. more so in wobe dewyette
Ms DA 2014
The people do not need cooperatives for welfare and the red clinic. When the emphasis return on the need for creativity and production the people will need to support cooperatives.
where she was? all of a sudden all them minister in the news. where were they 3yrs ago? In hidding or …. God help dominica
Gloria Shillingford; daughter of me late uncle Jonathan Dods (Dodds), and niece of me late mother Yvonne Dods (Dodds); wife of that boy Shillingford, son of me biological aunt Viola!
I the kid, your cousin the one affectionately called Son; wish to inform you that you are not saying anything interesting, important, or significant here. As far as I hear come election you will need a miracle from God, to cause you to win the votes of the people of Wesley, where practically half of the village are your blood relatives.
You let down your entire constituency, you did nothing for the people of Wesley. It is unfortunate; nonetheless, I think you have ruined your reputation. It appears to me that you were probabaly simply used as a token to help win the last election, when the campaign was over, it looks as if someone tied both your hands behind your back.
You are ineffective without any power, or authority to demand anything for the people of Wesley; and because of that many have decided they will not support you this time around.
It is one thing for you to indulge in sweet sounding political rhetoric, with no substance. There are lots of people in Wesley who lost money; there money was stolen by people who operated a credit union in the Village; one of the victims happens to be your very own cousin in the person of my nephew McDonald Destouche, the one with the withered arm, he is Marie eldest son, they stole more than two hundred thousand dollars from his Credit Union account, that is common knowledge in Wesley.
Such are what you should have tried to correct, and here you come with this nonsense?
Once bitten twice shy, and that is in the air in Wesley right now, no one can fool people all the time and getaway with it!
In any event I like your smile, the political whipping I gave to you here has nothing to do with the blood relationship; sorry I cannot be bias, or play any hypocrite game.
It is what it is!
Hate me, or like me because of this it does not matter, I shall be you cousin forever, after the politics, we both have to survive.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Hi.
This is what i’m talking about! 
Each constituency should have at least 5-7-12-18-25 cooperative groups for the different thing people do. Like if it’s candies, different butters, Seasonings ,Flour(plantin and ect)and a lot more.We need that. Please give me thumbs up.
Japan has been called the land of cooperatives. In the urban and rural areas almost every farmer, fisherman, and small business owner is part of a cooperative. There is co-op financing in the villages, co-op insurance, co-op marketing and more. In the US millions are members of cooperatives and there are more than 30,000 societies. Ace Hardware corporation is a cooperative hardware store with branches all over the US and there are many others. In Venezuela the great Chavez saw the vision of a Bolivian Revolution supported not only by oil but by cooperatives. When he came to office there were 762 cooperatives by 2006 there were 108,000. Chavez was smart. In Dominica the last budget spoke of a million dollars to go to developing cooperatives. Now we are up to another budget so what happened to that? Perhaps the opposition might find it useful to ask the question. And what is the plan of the opposition UWP other than the usual roads and buildings? Perhaps we should make Gloria the finance minister as she has a plan for development that could work as it has elsewhere.
Maindesk when you decide to talk crap about the United States, remember there are many Dominicans living here, and know you are talking balcony.
There are lots of franchises in this country, but the crap that you are talking about Ace is a cooperatives, that is only in your imagination.
A Franchising and Corporative are two different thing!
FYI; cooperation means the association of persons for common benefit.
Whereas, cooperative denotes; marked by a willingness, and ability to work with others, and this could relate to comprising a program of combined liberal arts, and technical studied at different schools.
In America when people talk about a franchise they are talking about freedom or immunity from some burden, or restriction vested in a person, or group. it is a special privilege granted to an individual or group the right to be and exercise the powers of a corporation, such as the right or license granted to an individual, or group of people to market a company’s goods or services in a particular place, or territory.
As far as we know in America, ACE hardware stores are Franchised!
KFC in Dominica is also a Franchise of the original KFC out of Kentucky
No wonder you people have to use fictitious names to in order to disgorge you rubbish unidentified!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque