NFFC chairman elected as director of ICA

By Kim Jae-heun

Noh Dong-jin, chairman of the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives (NFFC), has been elected to the board of directors of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), becoming the first NFFC head to do so, the federation said Monday.

NFFC Chairman Noh Dong-jin

At the ICA General Assembly held in Brussels, June 28, local time, Noh was newly elected as the director, at the same time, as a representative of the International Fish Cooperative Organisation (IFCO).

Noh will serve as an ICA director for the next four years and he is expected to strengthen the NFFC's right to speak within the international body.

Noh joined the board as the ICA articles were revised at the general assembly so as to appoint four new representatives of regional and sectorial organizations among eight, including the IFCO.

Noh was given full support from the IFCO member countries to lead the sectorial organization, where he will serve his term until 2025. Since 2009, IFCO representatives have consecutively selected NFFC chairmen. Before Noh, former NFFC Chairman Im Joon-taek headed the IFCO.

ICA is the world's largest non-governmental organization representing cooperatives and it has jurisdiction over about 1 billion members at 315 member organizations in 107 countries. The IFCO is one of the eight sectorial organizations within the ICA and 20 organizations from 19 countries are currently members of it.