Cooperative development: A 10-year transition

– After 10 years of implementing the 2012 Law on Cooperatives, with the efforts and flexibility of cooperatives plus supportive policies of the State, the cooperative economy in the province has made rapid development steps both in terms of quantity and quality of activities.

The 2012 Law on Cooperatives was promulgated on November 20, 2012 and took effect from July 1, 2013. As soon as the 2012 Law on Cooperatives took effect, the province issued documents directing the organization and implementation (the Provincial Party Committee issued 12 documents directing the implementation; the Provincial People’s Council issued six documents on mechanisms and policies to support collective economy and cooperative development; the Provincial People’s Committee established the Provincial Steering Committee for innovation, development and improvement of the collective economic efficiency, promulgated 54 documents which are specific programs and plans for implementation…).

In order for the 2012 Law on Cooperatives to quickly come into practice, the propaganda and dissemination activities are concerned and implemented by relevant levels and sectors. Mr. Vy Kim Truyen, Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Alliance, said: Propaganda and dissemination of the Law on Cooperatives and guiding documents have been organized and deployed in a variety of ways for many subjects. Specifically, on average, the Provincial Cooperative Alliance has coordinated with relevant agencies to organize 10 to 15 training courses on the 2012 Law on Cooperatives in districts and the city; coordinated propaganda on the mass media with four to five news, articles/month; integrated propaganda through conferences and meetings; propaganda in the theatrical form and so on.

Production of dried noodles at Cho Bai Dried Noodle Cooperative, Van Quan district

Through the promotion of propaganda and dissemination, especially the advantages and new points of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives, have contributed to raising awareness of officials and people about the new model of cooperatives. Thereby, people understand and actively participate in the construction and economic development of cooperatives. Mr. Duong Ngoc Dai, Director of Phuong Hoang Cooperative, Chi Lang district said: After being propagated and disseminated about the contents of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives, he and some households in Chi Lang commune have better understood the role of the new model of cooperatives, in 2016, 16 households linked to establish a cooperative to grow fruit trees with an area of ​​15 ha, including 10.5 ha of pomelo and 4.5 ha of custard apples. Previously, households produced individually, without support or sharing in technology, capital, market, etc., leading to a situation of good harvest and low prices and vice versa. After the cooperative went into operation, those limitations have been gradually overcome. The cooperative has produced mass production according to VietGAP process, actively looking for contacts to link with businesses and cooperatives inside and outside the province to sell products. If before 2016, the cooperative’s output of fruit trees was only 100 to 150 tons, in the period 2016-2019, fruit production increased by about 50 tons, the highest annual revenue reaches about 3.5 billion VND, the value increases 10% to 20% compared to the small production of members as before (from 2020 to now, the general impact of the COVID-19 epidemic has caused the value of fruit trees to decrease compared to the period 2016-2019). Currently, the cooperative has 18 members and is continuing to expand the area of ​​fruit trees such as grapefruit, jackfruit and so forth.

Along with Phuong Hoang Cooperative, since the 2012 Law on Cooperatives was introduced, cooperatives in the province have made rapid growth in number. Specifically, up to now, there are 408 cooperatives in the province, an increase of 299 cooperatives compared to July 1, 2013; the total number of members in the cooperative is nearly 5,000 people; the total number of regular employees in the cooperative is over 5,000 people.

Not only has the number of cooperatives grown rapidly, but the quality of the cooperative’s activities has also improved markedly. In order to improve the quality of activities, after the 2012 Law on Cooperatives took effect, the province has had many policies to support cooperatives. Specifically, in the period 2013 – 2021, the Provincial People’s Committee allocated about 85.5 billion VND to implement policies to encourage the development of collective economy and cooperatives. From that support, in the period 2013 – 2021, the province trained to improve the quality for nearly 6,000 turns of managers, cooperative members and founders; supporting 240 turns of cooperatives to participate in domestic fairs and exhibitions; supporting 63 cooperatives to apply machinery and equipment to production; building 10 models of agricultural production cooperatives associated with product consumption linkages; supporting 26 cooperatives with preferential loans from the Cooperative Development Support Fund; building 15 infrastructure items for 10 cooperatives; bringing 23 young intellectuals to work in agricultural cooperatives and so on.

From the support resources of the State and the initiative and efforts of cooperatives to overcome difficulties, the quality of cooperatives in the province has been significantly improved. Up to now, the average revenue of a cooperative in the province is 880 million VND/year, an increase of 35% compared to 2013; the average income in the cooperative reaches 50 million VND/person/year, an increase of 30 million VND/person/year compared to 2013.