Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU) and the Japan CO-OP Insurance Consumers’ Cooperative Federation (JCIF) co-organized a national policy review meeting for consumer coops nationwide on January 16-17, 2018. It was attended by 429 persons.

The meeting which is held every year in January, was attended by board members and executive officers from co-ops across the nation to discuss and engage in exchanges to deepen understanding regarding the contents of the policies formulated for co-ops businesses and activities for the 2018 fiscal year and beyond.

HONDA Eiichi, President of JCCU, in his opening remark, mentioned that he is proud that more than 70 years have passed since the World War II and since that Japan has not been a country of war but rather continues to be a society where anyone can live in peace and with a sense of security. He further stated that he would work towards enhancing the cooperation between co-ops nationwide to further engage in activities that would contribute to the building of a peaceful society.

A commemorative lecture was given by Ms. NEMOTO Kaoru, Director of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Tokyo, on the theme of "SDGs and Co-ops expectations".

She mentioned that SDGs are universal common measures which clarifies what we are already working on, however, she calls for a continued effort by all towards achievement of its goals. Subsequently, a keynote report was given by SHIMADA Hiroyuki, Managing Director/CEO of JCCU on the summary of the business activities of co-ops nationwide in the FY 2017, announcing the achievements and challenges and an activity plan for FY 2018, emphasizing on priority tasks. Taking turns, the Managing Director of JCIF, OGIHARA Takashi, also presented a business summary of fiscal 2017 and a second draft plan for the fiscal 2018.

During the plenary session, participants aggressively discussed and debated on some of the key issues brought up in the activity and business plan for 2018 to deepen understanding about the task to pursue in 2018.