A powerful new plan aims to rebuild Sri Lanka’s collapsing cooperative system by creating a Coop City in every major town, unifying consumer services and strengthening the rural economy.
A special discussion was held in Parliament on 19.11.2025 under the patronage of the Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development, Wasantha Samarasinghe, with Governors, Provincial Cooperative Ministry Secretaries, Provincial Cooperative Development Commissioners and Registrars to address urgent issues in the cooperative sector.
Speaking at the event, Minister Wasantha Samarasinghe announced that steps will be taken to establish Coop City in major cities where all consumer services can be accessed at one place. He stated that a program will be prepared to present cooperative products to the market under a unified brand and that local stores will be converted into mini Coop City outlets to provide better facilities to rural communities.
During the meeting, the current status of cooperative societies, existing issues and solutions were discussed extensively. The Minister highlighted that large scale financial frauds have occurred in cooperative societies and stressed that provincial cooperative audit departments must be strengthened to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Officials pointed out the need to amend the term of office for chairpersons of cooperative societies. They stated that corruption and misuse of authority could be reduced by setting limits on the tenure of the chairman and board members. They also raised concerns such as the charging of high interest rates on deposits and loans, certain cooperative societies being run as private businesses contrary to their purpose of registration, and the improper acquisition of cooperative lands and properties by external parties.
According to Minister Samarasinghe, several special plans have been prepared to strengthen the rural economy through cooperatives by resolving these long standing problems. He explained that it is expected to introduce cooperative products to the market through the new Coop City network and provide necessary credit facilities for expansion through the Cooperative Development Fund. He further stated that a common cooperative charter will be created for all provincial councils along with a unified legal framework for provincial cooperative employee commissions.
