Technical Assistance for Cooperatives in Developing Countries - Need and Response - 43rd International Cooperative Seminar, Dresden, 1975

Abstract

The 43rd International Co-operative Seminar was an event of particular significance in the co-operative calendar for 1975 - and indeed for the rest o f the decade. A t this halfway stage in the Co-operative Development Decade the seminar undertook an assessment of the achievements to date in co-operative technical assistance and sought to identify som e sound guide lines for the future. It served as an opportunity to look afresh at the complex problems of co-operatives in the developing world and to provide a starting point for the new thrust necessary if we are to be able, by 1980, to match achievement with aspiration. That, in itself, was an Important task, which, as this record will demonstrate, was carried out with vigour, imagination - and success. But, in addition, the seminar provided those of us closely concerned with co-operative development with an opportunity to re-charge our inspirational batteries, and to replenish our stock of ideas and techniques.