ICA RESEARCH CONFERENCE - HA NOI, VITNAM

ICA Regional Research Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam ICA-AP Regional Research Conference

2nd December, 2008

First Announcement and Call for Papers

Dear Co-operative colleagues and researchers in Asia-Pacific Region,

We have pleasure in announcing that the next Co-operative Research Conference for the Region will be held at the Melia Hotel, Hanoi, on 2nd December, 2008.

The theme of the Conference will be: " Strengthening Cooperative Advantage under the Competitive Environment " with the following sub themes;

Co-operative advantage in doing business

Co-operative advantage from the Membership perspective

Co-operative advantage from the Human Resource perspective

Co-operative advantage from the institutional perspective

Co-operatives, since they are organizations based on specific principles, have built in advantages। The contemporary situation calls for using these advantages to the benefit of the members as well as the movement. We need to explore how we can further strengthen the cooperative advantage, to survive and thrive under global and competitive market conditions. Research related to exploring ways and means of strengthening co-operative advantage, empirical studies highlighting cases of use of cooperative advantage, studies that focus on specific sectoral co-operatives, comparative studies across sectors, regions or countries are welcome.

You are all kindly requested to prepare an abstract of your paper and send it to reach us on or before 31 May, 2008। All abstracts should be prepared in A4 MS Word format (Times New Roman, Size 12 font, single-spaced) and no more than 500 words in length.

Author(s) full title, name, address, organization and email address should be included at the end of the abstract। We would expect to receive the full paper of your presentation latest by 31 August, 2008.

Like in the past, we would try to coordinate with the Consumer Co-operative Institute of Japan to provide a small number of scholarships to selected presenters.

We also propose to set up a Regional Research Committee and would look forward to the support of all participants.

Your abstracts should be sent to Mr. P. Nair at ICA-AP (nair@icaroap.coop) with a copy to Mr. Akira Kurimoto, Coordinator of the Research Group (akira.kurimoto@jccu.coop)

Looking forward your active participation and awaiting your response, Sincerely yours, Akira Kurimoto Coordinator ICA AP Co-operative Research Group