The government officially launched International Year of Cooperative 2012 on Friday. Cooperative has been recognised as one of the major pillars of economy after public and private sector.

A National Committee under the coordination of Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives has been formed to mark the International Cooperatives Year 2012 hosted by the United Nations (UN).

The Department of Cooperatives said that the government has also planned to establish more than 50 cooperatives as the model across the county in the year 2012 along with promoting its importance and delivering positive impacts on general public. A new cooperative act is also expected.

There are over 23,000 cooperatives in the country in which more than three million people are directly involved.

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