On February 15^th, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended and directed the Conference to review 20 years of implementing Resolution No. 13-NQ/TW on collective economy and summarize 10 years of implementing the 2012 Cooperative Law.

New and positive signs

The number of cooperatives and cooperative unions in Vietnam in 2021 is 27,445, an increase of approximately 41% compared to 2013. The number of regular laborers is maintained at 1.1 - 1.2 million/year.

The average revenue is VND 4.3 billion and the average profit is 314 million VND, an increase of 61% and 88% compared to 2013 respectively. Many collective economic models and cooperatives operate effectively such as the People's Credit Fund system with 1,181 funds operating in 57/63 provinces and cities.

The 20 years of implementing Resolution No. 13 and 10 years of implementing the 2012 Cooperative Law give rise to many new and positive signs. The most notable is the change from inefficient to self-responsible cooperative models. The collective economic sector has achieved new development both in terms of quality and quantity.

However, the collective economic sector has not yet brought into full play its potential and advantages and has yet become the foundation of the national economy. The growth rate of the collective economic sector is still low and its contribution to GDP has continuously decreased, failing to meet the target set out in Resolution No. 13.

Presenting the report summarizing 20 years of implementing Resolution 13 and 10 years of implementing the 2012 Cooperative Law, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung, Standing Deputy Head of the Steering Committee for innovation and collective economic and cooperative development, said that the 4.0 technology revolution, global economic and trade competition are developing increasingly fierce, and people's living standards and conditions have greatly improved. These factors make it difficult for the small and fragmented household economy and the production of non-standard goods to have a firm foothold.

“Cooperation is an inevitable path for joint development. The collective economic sector must take the role of leading individual and smallholder production households.”

Eight key tasks

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that the collective economy, with the core being cooperatives, is an important component in which development is always encouraged by the Party and country.

And in agreement with the viewpoint that the collective economy and cooperatives still hold ample potential, opportunities and fiscal space for development especially in agricultural cooperatives, the Prime Minister directed to focus on eight key tasks:

• Research and develop mechanisms and policies suitable to Vietnam’s new developments and realities.
• Remove bottlenecks in institutions, mechanisms and policies on the basis of respecting the socialist-oriented market economy.
• Promote science and technology application, innovation and creativity, particularly focusing on high technology, digital technology and further developing green economy, circular economy, knowledge economy.
• Mobilize all resources for development, promoting public-private cooperation.
• Construct advanced cooperative and collective economic management models, combined with conventional models to be suitable to the current situation in Vietnam.
• Create a healthy competition environment associated with market expansion and brand and product development.
• Strengthen joint ventures and associations; build brands following the production chain while taking into consideration the strengths of each region; conduct reasonable planning for raw material areas according to market demand.
• Improve the qualifications and capacity of staff and subjects participating in the collective economy and cooperatives.

Following the mindset of “farmer is the center, the countryside is the foundation, and agriculture is the driving force”, the Prime Minister noted that units need to study, perfect regulations and clearly define the nature of cooperatives; not interfere in production and business activities, promote the autonomy and self-responsibility of each cooperative; strengthen post-inspection, help cooperatives build self-discipline and sense of discipline.

Increasing the number of members is not something to pursue

Dr. Chu Tien Quang, Central Institute of Economic Management, said that it is necessary to take reference from foreign experiences on developing cooperative members. Increasing the number of members is not something to pursue, but instead creating a strong community of members and an internal market large enough for cooperatives to operate effectively. It is very important to clearly determine whether a cooperative is a type of enterprise and should receive equal treatment to companies operating under the Enterprise Law.

Dr. Quang proposed the Government, relevant ministries and branches continue to shorten and synchronize policies regarding the collective economy and cooperatives. He also emphasized the importance of changing awareness for cooperative members as well as creating motivation, improving opportunities and competitiveness for this economic sector.

Agricultural cooperatives - changes in both quality and quantity

According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan, after 20 years of implementing Resolution No. 13, the number of agricultural cooperatives has increased by 12,569 with an average annual increase of nearly 800 cooperatives. The increase in the 2016-2021 period is particularly three times higher than the previous period.

Not only has the number of agricultural cooperatives increased rapidly but the quality and performance have also improved remarkably. Agricultural cooperatives classified as “good” and “very good” increased from 10% (in 2013) to 33% (in 2016) and now over 60%. The revenue of agricultural cooperatives is currently at VND 2.44 billion/cooperative, an increase of more than two times compared to 2013. Agricultural cooperatives provide 7 to 16 rural services for both agricultural production and rural social welfare.

In addition to the above achievements, Minister Le Minh Hoan acknowledged that the collective economy and cooperatives still has certain shortcomings: the number of effective cooperatives is low and unsustainable; membership size and revenue are small; services for preliminarily processing, processing and preserving, as well as the ability to effectively link with businesses are still lacking in many aspects.

Determining the collective economic sector and cooperatives continue to play a particularly important role in helping agriculture maintain its role as a pillar of the economy, Minister Le Minh Hoan oriented six key tasks in the coming time:

• Develop collective economy and agricultural cooperatives into a socio-economic institution in rural areas on the basis of integrating multi-values, promoting voluntariness, self-responsibility, individual ownership, fairness, equality and solidarity.
• Promote human resource training; attract qualified and knowledgeable young staff and workers to work for cooperatives specifically "Training Program for Directors of Agricultural Cooperatives"; cooperate and link to send cooperative laborers to study and work abroad.
• Encourage cooperatives to apply scientific and technical advances and high technologies into production, processing and trade; further support machinery infrastructure, preliminary processing, processing, packaging and consumption; applying digital and automatic technology to production and trade.
• Create conditions for cooperatives to participate in agricultural product value link chains; encourage and support cooperatives to develop raw material areas and form linkages in the agro-product value chain; develop planting area codes associated with the raw material area development and product traceability.
• Support investment in infrastructure in line with organizing the development of production and creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers and cooperatives; pay more attention and further invest in logistics infrastructure for agro-product processing and trading.
• Improve the role and capacity of state management agencies; consolidate the Sub-Departments of Rural Development system in provinces and cities.

Translated by Samuel Pham