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NCBA CLUSA to Formally Launch U.S. – Cuba Cooperative Working Group at Press Conference

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NCBA CLUSA will host a press conference next week to announce the formal launch of the U.S. – Cuba Cooperative Working Group (USCCWG), a national-level, multi-sectorial U.S. cooperative leadership group representing consumer, purchasing, worker and producer co-ops from a broad range of industries, among them agriculture, energy and finance.

The March 10 event, held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., will serve as a platform to discuss mutually beneficial engagement between the U.S. and Cuban cooperative sectors.

NCBA CLUSA will also use the press conference as an opportunity to officially release the Cuba Cooperative Working Group Report—the result of a research and education trip to Cuba last year designed to gain a clearer picture of the cooperative movement there, which observers say is playing an increasingly significant role in the country’s push for economic reform.

Guests invited to the press conference include representatives from the Cuba Special Interest Section, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the White House.

A reception will follow next week’s press conference. Preregistration for the reception is required. Click here to register.

Established in 2014 and led by NCBA CLUSA, the USCCWG’s mission is to build a stronger and more vibrant cooperative movement in the U.S. and Cuba, while supporting Cuban economic progress.

In recent years, the Cuban government has begun transitioning state-owned farms and business enterprises into cooperatives, a move that has bolstered the role of existing co-ops in the country and allowed space for the formation of new ones. The Obama Administration’s decision last December to normalize diplomatic ties with Cuba creates a unique environment in which to expand cooperative business between the two countries.

Comprising more than a dozen U.S. cooperative leaders from across economic sectors, the USCCWG is well positioned to engage in programs and initiatives aimed at strengthening and learning from Cuban cooperative development. Efforts will be based on the country’s unique needs and grounded in the international cooperative movement, which boasts more than 1 billion members worldwide.

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