Manuel Mariscal, president of the International Organisation of Industrial and Service Co-operatives (CICOPA), has received a medal marking the 200th anniversary of the Polish co-operative movement.
The award, under the patronage of Polish president Andrzej Duda, was given in recognition of Mr Mariscal’s work representing of co-operatives in industry and services around the world.
It was presented by Janusz Paszkowski, president of the National Auditing Union of Worker Co-operatives in Poland (NAUWC).
Giuseppe Guerini, vice president of CICOPA and rresident of CECOP, the regional organisation of CICOPA for Europe, and Bruno Roelants, secretary general of CICOPA, also received the medal.
Co-operation in Poland dates back at least as far as 1816 , when a farming co-op was established in the country. There were around 18,500 co-operatives in 2004.
According to data from 2006 from the Central Statistical Office of Poland, most Polish co-ops exist across the housing (36%), farming (18%), retail (12%) and industrial processing (12%) sectors.
