The 2021 regular general meeting of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) was held via video conferencing at midnight on 13th July (KST), where Youn-sik Kim, Chair&President of NACUFOK, was re-elected as the chair of the COVID-19 Response Committee.
The COVID-19 Response Committee was launched in July 2020 to assist credit union members around the globe in overcoming the damage incurred through the outbreak of the pandemic and to organize their response to COVID-19. Over the past year, the committee has been setting an example by taking preemptive preventive measures against the pandemic in line with the regional COVID-19 situation, and organized a variety of activities including the provision of protective equipment.
The committee regularly hosted international online conferences to update the COVID-19 situation in each country, and spared no effort in supporting the members of credit unions around the world in overcoming the crisis. In 2021, the Chair Kim Youn-sik provided 111,000 face masks to Korean credit unions in North America, and to other credit unions around the globe through WOCCU. As highly contagious variants of COVID-19 spread, face masks will continue to be provided to global credit union communities in need.
In addition, the COVID-19 Response Committee continue to host webinars with the representatives of credit unions around the world to prepare for the post-COVID era. A total of 15 webinars were held to discuss the topic of digital transformation in order to assist countries preparing for non-face-to-face financial services, an essential requirement in the ‘untact’ era. In particular, at the webinars held in February and May this year, the merit of the integrated IT system of Korean credit unions was presented and shared, which proposed a new developmental direction for credit unions to build a financial services infrastructure that enables them to assist its members in a non-face-to-face manner.
The COVID-19 Response Committee will continue to monitor the progress of Covid-19 and provide face masks and protective equipment to global credit union communities, as well as hosting webinars.
Five credit unions in Oregon, USA, have expressed their interest in signing an MOU with NACUFOK in order to expand the scope of their businesses targeting Korean-American communities.
This MOU is expected to bolster the systematic development of strategies for credit union operation, such as establishing marketing techniques and IT infrastructure, enabling them to expand their Korean-American membership in the region and improve member satisfaction.
Accordingly, NACUFOK embarked on the “Global Bridge” project in collaboration with the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), and monthly webinars were set up to facilitate engagement and discussion, starting with an inaugural meeting in June 2021.
The participants included five credit union related organizations in Oregon: ‘Unitus Community CU’, ‘Oregon Community CU’, ‘Advantis CU’, ‘Rivermark Community CU’, and ‘Northwest Credit Union Association’. The first webinar was attended by the chairman of each institution and Kim Yun-sik, Chairman and President of NACUFOK.
Since the inaugural meeting in June, a total of three webinars were held by the end of the year. The webinars covered the topics of, the electronic payment system of both Oregon credit unions and Korean credit unions; digitalization of the credit union; the digital communication strategy of Korean credit unions; and the digitization of financial services and strategies to retain young members of credit unions in Oregon.
The credit unions in Oregon are planning to visit Korea in May 2022 to sign an MOU, while continuing to review the operational aspects of participating organizations on both sides of the partnership, through monthly webinars.
From 6th to 14th December, NACUFOK held the 5th Asian Credit Union Leadership Program (ACL) for executives and employees of credit unions in Asian countries. The ACL program is an intensive training program to foster future leaders who will head the growth and prosperity of Asian credit unions, and has been provided annually since 2017.
As last year, this year's program was conducted on a non-face-to-face basis due to COVID-19. Assignments were submitted and attendance was confirmed through Google Classroom; lectures were conducted in the form of webinars through Zoom.
This year’s program saw the increase in diversity in participating countries. A total of 18 personnel in the credit union industry in Nepal, Taiwan, Laos, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Thailand, have participated. They attended lectures and held discussions on diverse topics, including the history and development of credit unions in Korea, the challenges ahead, the supervision and the deposit protection scheme, and IT systems. This year’s program is structured to enable two-way communication to take place, so that productive results can be derived from taking part in the lectures.
In addition, this year’s program required the participants to complete an individual ‘Development Action Plan’ to assist them in considering what individual efforts could be made for the development of credit unions in their respective countries.
In addition, the video tour of Busan Central Credit Union, which provided an opportunity to learn about their strategies for sustainable growth with their members, drew as much interest from participants as on-site tours.
NACUFOK’s Social Contribution Foundation had previously signed an MOU with ACCU to support the ACCU’s Business Development Service (BDS) program by providing a total funding of 300,000 USD from 2019 to 2021.
ACCU’s BDS aims to support the growth of small businesses for unemployed women and youths, and has provided training and support to improve the operational efficiency, competitiveness and profitability of emerging micro enterprises and small farmers in rural areas.
From 2019 to the present, ACCU has produced a training manual on the BDS, and also provided leadership training to enhance the capacities of those in charge of carrying out regional BDS projects. ACCU launched a pilot program with four confederations in three countries, including India (MSFCCS), the Philippines (PFCCO, NATCCO), and Nepal (NEFSCUN), and is continuing the project by providing online training, following the spread of COVID-19.
With PFCCO in the Philippines, ACCU set up a BDS department to support 40,499 small and medium-sized businesses, and worked with 29 pilot cooperatives participating in the project. With NATCCO, ACCU established a cooperative relationship for the USAID/E-PESO project (a USAID/Philippines project), and to develop a manual for the integrated digital marketing training program. In conjunction with NESCUN of Nepal, ACCU provided training to 90 female entrepreneurs in various areas of business, including portfolio management, digital and electronic marketing, and operating an accounting system; and in addition, developed a catalogue.