MANILA, Philippines – Three Asian co-operative tradeorganizations combined forces for five days in September to bringtogether credit union people from 25 Asian countries, all wantingto discuss credit union issues. A CEO two-day workshop attracted 31credit union CEOs followed by a three-day forum with 343participants from 25 Asian/Pacific countries. The two events wereheld at the Dust Hotel. Although credit union movements indifferent countries face the same problems, good governance,legislation, branding, information technology, the differencesbetween a more developed country such as Japan or a lessdevelopment country such as Vietnam, the levels vary. Technology isnot useful in rural areas where electricity is limited. Confidencein credit unions is greatest when there is a strong legislativebackground, but over regulation creates other problems. A newtraining manual for Credit Union Director's Competence Course wasintroduced at the workshop. “Killer” marketing tactics were lookedat to increase youth participation in credit unions as well as toencourage women entrepreneurship during this the United NationalYear of Micro Finance. One of the major topics was branding not as“slick advertising (consumers are more savvy than ever), but ratherfrom the degree to which an organization keeps its brand promise.That means that boards and employees alike must understand andembrace the credit union's brand and be prepared to deliver on it.When this occurs, credit unions not only win in the marketplace,they create a cohesive, compelling and enriching culture thattranslates to direct and positive impact in helping members grow,”according to promotional literature for the forum. The workshop andforum were co-sponsored by The Philippine Federation of CreditCooperatives, the National Confederation of Co-operatives in thePhilippines and the Association of Asian Confederation of CreditUnions based in Bangkok, Thailand. The Association of AsianConfederation of Credit Unions (ACCU) serves credit unions andother similar financial institutions in 13 countries throughoutEast, South East, and South Asia. Besides being funded by memberdues it also receives contributions from the Canadian CooperativeAssociation, MISEREOR of Germany, CORDAID, Hivos, Agriterrs of theNetherlands, the Irish League of Credit Unions, CUNA Mutual Groupand the Credit Union Foundation of Australia. The PhilippineFederation of Credit Cooperatives (PFCCO) founded in 1961 statesits mission as the uniting of credit cooperatives into a nationalcooperative financial intermediary. PFCCO is composed of eightregistered Regional Leagues that provides business and non-businessservices to its members NATCCO is a cooperative confederation ofsavings-based cooperatives and is committed to: “Work towardsalternative socio-economic-political systems guided byself-reliance, democracy, nationalism, solidarity, justice, andgender equality.” The event is an annual [email protected]