Ngũ Thường Mekong Co-operative’s cow farm in Hậu Giang Province’s Phụng Hiệp District. – VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Thái

HẬU GIANG – Hậu Giang Province has taken measures to support the development of the collective economy, especially co-operatives.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta province has implemented many programmes and projects in which co-operatives are given financial and other support to develop their production.

They include the Việt Nam-Sustainable Agriculture Transformation (VnSAT) Project and the project for sustainable agriculture development and climate change adaptation in 2021-25.

Kỳ Như Co-operative in Phụng Hiệp District’s Thạnh Hoà Commune is a co-operative that has been provided financial support to develop production.

It breeds featherback fish and makes products from the fish such as fish paste, dried fish and snacks, and processes other seafood, vegetable and fruit products.

It supplies 30 - 35 tonnes of fresh fish a month to the market and has 11 products recognised as three- and four-star products under the country’s “One Commune-One Product” (OCOP) programme.

Nguyễn Kim Thuỳ, its director, said the province has many support policies for co-operatives such as financial support, OCOP product registration and trade promotion.

The province has supported her co-operative with part of the cost of buying a solar dryer worth VNĐ540 million (US$21,500) and a freezer worth nearly VNĐ1 billion ($40,000), she said.

The co-operative is building a workshop, warehouse and headquarters worth a total of VNĐ11 billion ($440,000) from the province’s financial support, she said.

It earned revenue of VNĐ14 billion ($560,000) last year and has 65 permanent workers who earn an income between VNĐ6-9 million ($240-360) a month.

Tân Tiến Agriculture Service Co-operative in Vị Thanh City’s Vị Tân Commune was given financial support from the VnSAT Project in 2018 to build a 1,000sq.m warehouse and buy a rice drier and harvester.

Lê Văn Thăng, its director, said thanks to the support, the co-operative can solve the issue of storing harvested rice for its members, and can proactively harvest, process and preserve rice, which help to reduce production cost.

The province has established 71 co-operatives with nearly 2,000 members since 2022, according to the provincial Co-operative Alliance.

It has 271 co-operatives and four operative unions which have a total of more than 8,500 members and 13,000 workers.

The alliance targets to set up 30 co-operative groups and 16 new co-operatives this year.

Solving difficulties

Hồ Văn Phú, chairman of the alliance, said most co-operatives have difficulties such as small-scale production and weak operation capacity.

The biggest difficulty is the lack of investment capital, he said.

Trương Cảnh Tuyên, permanent deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “To solve difficulties in developing the collective economy, the province will focus on removing the bottleneck of capital for co-operatives.”

It will classify co-operatives that have good, moderate or weak operational efficiency to have measures to support them, he said.

It will focus on training human resources for collective economy, implement trade promotion for co-operatives, and assist them to recruit university and colleague graduates to work for a limited period, he said.

Co-operatives will be supported to invest in infrastructure and facilities, expand their production and improve product quality, he said.

Linkages among co-operatives and other stakeholders in producing products will be developed to improve production efficiency, and the application of advanced technologies will be prioritised, he said.

The province has provided financial support to build infrastructure and processing facilities costing a total of VNĐ144 billion ($5.7 million) for 13 co-operatives and two co-operative unions, according to the alliance.

It has used more than VNĐ40 billion ($1.6 million) from its fund to assist 50 co-operatives to buy machines, production facilities, seeds and animal food.

It has given VNĐ1.6 billion ($64,000) to 33 university and colleague graduates who work for a limited period at 13 co-operatives and three co-operative unions.

It has organised 45 co-operatives to participate in trade promotion activities in HCM City, Hà Nội and other provinces, and created conditions for co-operatives to link with companies to produce and sell their products. – VNS