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Attending were Mr. Do Van Chien - Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front; Mr. Le Minh Khai - Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister, Head of Steering Committee for Innovation and Development of the CE and Cooperatives and leaders of Ministries, committees and branches.

At Binh Duong Bridge, there were Mr. Nguyen Van Loi - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies; Mr. Vo Van Minh - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of relevant departments, committees and branches.

Nearly 38,000 newly established cooperatives

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung - Permanent Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for Innovation and Development of the CE and Cooperatives, after 20 years of implementing Resolution no. 13-NQ/TW, along with the process of economic renewal and international economic integration, the CE sector has gone through different stages of development, in which there are certain advantages, disadvantages and challenges. The most prominent is the change of the inefficient cooperative model to the self-responsible and autonomous cooperative model.

The Cooperative Law 2012 is the basic legal framework for the establishment, organization and operation of cooperatives. Cooperatives initially showed changes in quality and efficiency, proving more and more clearly their important and comprehensively significant role in economy, politics and society. As of December 31, 2021, the entire country has over 27,000 cooperatives, an increase of 2.5 times compared to 2001 and an increase of about 41% compared to 2013; the cooperative sector attracts nearly 6 million members and creates jobs for about 1 million workers. Over the past 20 years, the country has had nearly 38,000 newly established cooperatives.​

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Effective cooperatives contribute to promoting economic development and creating jobs for rural workers

The revenue and profit of the cooperative increased gradually over the years. In 2020, the average revenue reached 4.3 billion VND/cooperative, the average profit reached 314 million VND/cooperative, up 61% and 88% respectively compared to 2013. The most effective operating model today is the People's Credit Fund system, with 1,181 funds operating in 57/63 provinces and cities, more than 1.8 million members.

In recent years, the average income of regular workers in cooperatives has increased from 44.6 million VND/person/year, equal to 44.8% of workers' income in the enterprise sector in 2017, to 52.8 million VND/year and reached 47.3% respectively in 2019.

However, the growth rate of the CE is still low compared to other economic sectors, the proportion of contribution to GDP is not on par, not meeting the requirements. Most of the CE organizations and cooperatives are small in scale, unevenly develop between zones, regions, between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

Binh Duong: Cooperatives link supermarkets, large enterprises to expand the market

After 20 years of implementing Resolution no. 13-NQ/TW, the CE and and cooperative sector of Binh Duong province have made strong changes in terms of content, operation methods, and the scale of cooperatives is increasing day by day, reflected in the number of members and the scope of activities. The number of cooperatives applying new and modern science and technology and participating in high-tech agricultural production is increasing day by day. Some cooperatives cooperate with supermarkets and large enterprises to expand consumption markets, contributing to improving product quality and competitiveness, as well as actively researching and expanding not only domestic market but also export.

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Delegates attend the conference at Binh Duong bridge point

​As of December 31, 2021, the province has 217 cooperatives with nearly 35,900 members (an increase of 162 cooperatives and nearly 17,000 compared to December 31, 2001). Cooperatives operate mainly in the fields of agriculture, transportation, handicrafts, trade - services, construction, typically such as: Cong Minh Cooperative, Thanh Long Bridge and Road Construction Cooperative, Tin Thanh Transport Service Cooperative, Nam Hang agricultural production, trade and service cooperative, Kim Long Hi-tech Agriculture Cooperative, Tan My Fruit Cooperative, etc. Total revenue of cooperatives reached 1,216 billion VND, 9.5 times higher than that of December 31, 2001. The average income of members and employees reached 10.5 million VND/month, an increase of 7.5 million VND compared to 2001. The contribution of the cooperative to the province's total product is about 0.9%, an increase of about 85% compared to 2001. Cooperatives operate effectively, contributing to economic development, job creation, income growth, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation for their members, contributing to the construction of a new-style rural area, ensuring social security, order and safety.

Developing CE and cooperatives in line with Vietnamese reality

Speaking at the conclusion of the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed that the CE sector and cooperatives had initially made positive changes in quality and quantity, basically overcoming the long-standing weakness and increasingly asserting their space, potential, future development prospects, step by step affirming the position and fundamental role of the CE sector and cooperatives in the national economy.

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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the conclusion of the conference

In the coming time, the Prime Minister requested to focus on implementing 8 groups of tasks and solutions. That is, continuing to study and develop mechanisms and policies in line with new developments and Vietnamese reality. Removing bottlenecks in institutions, mechanisms and policies on the basis of respecting the socialist-oriented market economy. Promoting the application of science and technology, innovation, especially high technology, digital technology, developing green economy, circular economy, knowledge economy. Mobilizing all resources for development, especially promoting public-private cooperation. Building an advanced CE and cooperative management model, combined with the traditional model suitable for Vietnam's situation, with inheritance, stability, renewal and development. Creating healthy competition associated with market expansion and brand and product development. Strengthening joint ventures, linkages, building product brands according to the chain and according to the strengths of each area and region, rationally planning raw material areas according to the conditions of each place, each product, scale, and market, etc. Improving the qualifications and capacity of staff and subjects participating in the CE and cooperatives.

The Prime Minister emphasized that, during difficult times, agriculture is still the backbone of the economy. Therefore, the development of cooperatives in agriculture is very important with the spirit of taking farmers as the center, the rural area as the foundation, agriculture as the driving force, continuing to establish and develop cooperatives in the field of agriculture to overcome the situation of fragmentation, smallness, division, spontaneity, the direction is to follow the official route, entering the "difficult" market.

​Reported by Phuong Chi- Translated by Thanh Tam

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