Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and delegates visit a booth that showcases accounting softwares as part of the teleconference to review 15-year implementation of a resolution on renewing, developing and improving the efficiency of the collective economy and co-operatives. — VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has said developing the collective economy must start from the demands of the people.

He made the statement during a teleconference in Hà Nội on Monday which reviewed the 15-year implementation of a resolution on renewing, developing and improving the efficiency of the collective economy and co-operatives. 

The resolution was adopted at the fifth plenum of the 9th Party Central Committee in 2004. 

The PM hailed the improving awareness of the collective economic development, evidenced by the 2012 Law on Co-operatives on the back of seven basic principles of the International Co-operative Alliance. 

The number of co-operatives increases each year with new models. However, their contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) remains modest and is tending to fall. 

He suggested learning from international experience to fully tap the power of new-style co-operatives and collective economic models. 

”Mechanisms to develop co-operatives and working groups must be fine-tuned, and co-ordination with other economic sectors, especially businesses, strengthened towards opening up more new markets for farmers,” the Governement leader said. 

He also asked for facilitating labour training, land and finance-credit policies, science-technology, and infrastructure upgrades, requiring tapping advantages and potential of co-operative models to make profound and basic changes in agricultural production and rural lives. 

Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đình Huệ said the outcomes of the teleconference will serve as important scientific evidence to report to the Politburo, thus contributing to policy-making in the near future.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng said since the launch of the resolution 15 years ago and the adoption of the Law on Co-operatives in 2012, the number of effective co-operatives has kept growing, accounting for 55 per cent of agricultural co-operatives and about 50-80 per cent of non-agricultural ones. 

Collective economy out of prolonged slump

In the morning the same day, the Việt Nam Co-operative Alliance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment held a 2019 national forum on co-operative economy and co-operatives to collect opinions of co-operatives and members on current production and obstacles, as well as experience in developing new models.

Speaking at the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vương Đinh Huệ, who is also head of the Steering Committee for Innovation and Collective Economic Development, said the collective economy had come out of a prolonged slump. Up to 57 per cent of co-operatives in the agricultural sector are operating effectively, he said.

However, the target of the sector achieving a certain proportion in the country’s GDP has not been realised. In 2003, the proportion of the collective sector's contribution to Việt Nam’s GDP was 7.49 per cent. The current figure is only 4 per cent.

Huệ said due attention in this field was still limited, with people only thinking about agricultural production when talking about the co-operative economy. Non-agricultural production is another major part of the co-operative economy.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the Law on Co-operatives in 2012 has opened up a clear direction, allowing the establishment of enterprises in co-operatives. However, many are still confused the new model.

In addition, among human resources for the co-operative sector, currently only 40 per cent are primary trained staff and up to 60 per cent are untrained. Therefore, the Việt Nam Co-operative Alliance must focus on enhancing training in the future.

Co-operatives must enjoy supporting policies on technology transfer, trade and market expansion, Huệ said.

He hoped that, with awareness of authorities and people about the importance of co-operatives, this model would become an important link between agricultural production and consumption, and a bridge between farmers and businesses.

As of late 2018, Việt Nam had 64,081 co-operative groups, 8,744 co-operatives and 21 co-operative unions in the non-agricultural sector.

In 2018, the revenue of each non-agricultural co-operative stood at VNĐ8.5 billion (US$366,000), and profit was VNĐ480 million ($20,640) – 2-5 times higher than the figures in 2003. 

Nguyễn Ngọc Bảo, VCA president and deputy head of the Steering Committee for Innovation and Collective Economic Development, said the collective economy in the non-agricultural sector is expected to grow from 8-15 per cent annually by 2030. 

Việt Nam expects to have 130,000 co-operative groups and 15,000 co-operatives and co-operative unions by 2025, attracting five million members and generating permanent jobs for three million labourers. 

The figures are projected to increase to 260,000 co-operatives, 25,000 cooperative unions, eight million members and 4.5 million labourers by 2030, he said. — VNS