The vice president of Paraguay, Luis Federico Franco Gómez, a proud credit union member recently shared he believes strong and prosperous cooperatives are key to the country's continued economic growth.

Franco expressed his support for credit unions during a recent meeting with delegates from World Council of Credit Unions, the Minnesota Credit Union Network and Central de Cooperativas del Áreas Nacional Ltda., Paraguay's credit union association.

The delegation traveled to Asunción, Paraguay, to advocate on behalf of credit unions with high-level government officials and share best practices in information technology at the individual credit union level.

The visit was part of MnCUN and CENCOPAN's long-standing partnership managed by World Council's International Partnerships Program, with a focus on promoting a sound regulatory environment in Paraguay to ensure the safety and security of credit union members' funds. Another goal of the international exchange was to build confidence in IT systems and convince credit unions of the importance and value in investing in technology.

In the first of a series of government visits, the traveling delegation met with representatives from the Instituto Nacional de Cooperativismo , the national regulator of Paraguay, to discuss the unique business model of credit unions and how their focus on community and social development calls for a distinct set of regulations. The delegation also met with Humberto Blasco Gavilán, minister of justice and labor in Paraguay, to discuss credit union contributions in the country.