Co-operative festival to focus on consumers

Sharjah: A three-week festival of co-operative societies to be held all over UAE will kick off on Saturday under the slogan of protecting consumers.

Shaikh Saeed Bin Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum will inaugurate the 13th co-op shopping festival organised by the Consumer Cooperative Union (ccu) at the Hatta branch of Emirates Co-op Society, and the event will be observed at all branches of the various co-op societies across the country until March 20.

Deputy chairman of the CCU Majid Rahma Al Shamisi hailed the support given to the cooperative movement by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

He attributed the success of the co-op movement to the support given by the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and Their Highness the Rulers of the various emirates throughout its journey since its inception earlier in 1982.

Al Shamisi said the combined sales turnover of all the co-op societies stood at Dh3.2 billion, a 19 per cent growth over the preceding year.