UAE mulls new cooperatives new law

Representatives of Dubai cooperative societies are urging a change in law to treat them as commercial entities with social responsibilities even as the current law sees them as charities or non-profit organisations.

The representatives have urged for a new legislation to define the general frame of their activities, leaving the details to their articles of associations and their by-laws which will allow them to organise their commercial activities enabling them to face the competition from large consumer entities’ chains and shopping malls in the country.

This came about in a meeting that Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry held with representatives of Cooperative Societies in Dubai to discuss developing the law governing their activities. The roundtable discussion was attended by a group of board members and directors of cooperative societies in the emirate.

During the meeting, the representatives of cooperative societies in Dubai expressed their views on the shortcomings of the current Cooperative Societies Law of 1976, and stressed the need for a new law that reflects their requirements and tackles the obstacles faced by them.

The meeting came as a response to the Federal National Council letter addressed to the UAE Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries, requesting the chambers’ views and comments about said law, and was within the efforts of Dubai Chamber to help different economic sectors in facing challenges as part of its commitment to support the growth of the national economy and to provide better services to its members and stakeholders.

The attendees also raised a range of topics that need to be addressed in the proposed law for the proper functioning of cooperative societies with regards to membership, voting mechanism and profit distribution to members to be decided by the general assembly of each society and in accordance with their charters.

The meeting discussed the role of cooperatives in supporting the national interests both economically and socially, in providing stability to the local market in the wake of sudden shortage in the supply of the main consumer items, in securing profits for their members, in creating jobs for the locals and in offering valuable services to the consumers.

The attendees agreed that this meeting is a step forward in developing the functioning of cooperative societies in line with global developments observed in the cooperative sector, so that the new law would enable them to cover the economic and social roles and responsibilities towards the community.

Statistically, at the end of 2013, the number of cooperatives operating in the emirate stood at 17 with 102 showrooms and 51,181 shareholders with 109,119,897 shares.

The cooperative societies’ share capital was Dh1.1 billion with total assets of approximately Dh4 billion. Sales of cooperatives during the year 2012 was Dh5.9 billion, while they contributed Dh16.3 million to social and charitable causes during the same year.

The meeting was attended by Majid Hamad Al Shamsi, Chairman of the Union of Cooperative Societies (UCS), Khalid Humaid bin Thibyan Falasi, Director General of the Union Cooperative Society, Major General Mohammed Saeed Mohammed Al Marri, Chairman, Board of Directors of Dubai Cooperative Society for Fishermen, Khalid Humaid Al Falasi, General Manager, Union Cooperative Society, Saleh Abdullah Lootah, Managing Director, Union Cooperative Society, and Ahmed Omar Karbi, Vice President, Union Society of Housing and Sultan Ahmed Khalfan Al Ghaith , Board Member and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Union Cooperative Society, and a number of Dubai Chamber officials.

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