COOPINMOBILIA is the first cooperative in the real estate sector, headed by a group of leading women in the country's real estate industry.
SANTO DOMINGO - Following yesterday's announcement of the COOPINMOBILIA project, a Real Estate Cooperative led by a group of prominent women heads of renowned firms in the sector, El Inmobiliario highlights what this socio-economic model consists of and its importance for societies.
What is cooperativism and what is its origin?
Cooperativism, from its origin, is based on an essential value which is the satisfaction of people's needs and the achievement of the common good.
A cooperative is an autonomous society of people who have voluntarily joined together to meet their common needs through a joint enterprise that is democratically managed.
The cooperative movement began in 1844 when several women and men who worked in the textile industry of Rochdale, in the North of England, and who had lost their jobs after participating in a strike, created the Rochdale Equitable Pioneer Society.
The International Cooperative Alliance was created in 1895; it is the institution dedicated to promoting cooperative principles. Currently, numerous cooperatives exist worldwide, sharing common characteristics.
What are the characteristics of cooperativism?
All cooperatives have basic rules, values, or characteristics, which are as follows:
- Free membership. Anyone can join a cooperative by meeting the legally established conditions.
- Mutual aid. A cooperative is created to solve common problems of its members.
- Democratic system. Decision-making regarding the management of the cooperative includes all members. Each person has one vote.
- Self-reliance. Each associate will strive to achieve the common good by contributing their work and effort.
- Fairness in profit sharing. The profits generated by the cooperative are distributed equitably among the members.
- Equality. All members have the same rights and obligations within the cooperative.
- Responsibility. Cooperativism implies a commitment to common goals, an assumption of responsibilities towards oneself and towards the group.
- Solidarity. Cooperatives are not only formed to solve problems of their members; they also solve the problems of the families and communities in which they work.
- Promoting values. A cooperative promotes ethical values such as honesty, transparency, and commitment.
Advantages of cooperativism
In some cases, cooperatives can benefit from tax advantages and government programs that provide them with financing.
All these advantages have led to a rise in cooperatives in many places, such as Latin America, demonstrating that another form of commerce is possible. Cooperativism, therefore, is a different way of understanding reality and seeing the world from a more humane and solidarity-based perspective.
Dominican cooperative movement
Since its inception in the late 19th century, cooperativism has been a global activity that has significantly contributed to the economic and social development of many countries. As Defourny (1992) called it, the "third sector" represents an option that differentiates it from public companies and traditional capitalist enterprises, thus contributing to greater social cohesion.
Cooperatives in the Dominican Republic are governed by Law 127-64 and IDECOOP, created by Law 31-63, which is the body whose main function is to promote, educate, technify and oversee the Cooperative Movement of the country.
An article published in the newspaper El Dinero last October states that the assets of cooperatives in the country are around RD$250 billion, or approximately US$5 billion. Furthermore, the director of the Institute for Cooperative Development and Credit (Idecoop), Franco de los Santos, told the newspaper that they have a loan portfolio exceeding RD$139 billion and a delinquency rate below 5%.
In the last two and a half years, the sector has experienced a real growth of 148%, going from 700 active cooperatives in 2020 to 1,742 in August 2022, for an absolute difference of 1,042 institutions, according to the director of Idecoop, who asserted that this sector has expanded to almost the entire national territory, with entities focused on the development of women standing out.
He also indicated that these cooperatives have allocated almost 60% of their loan portfolio to their members. Regarding the territorial concentration of the cooperatives, Santo Domingo is the largest, de los Santos stated, adding that they will release their most recent census in the coming days.
Sources: UNCHR UNHCR
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