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Co-operatives urged to be economically effective
Co-operatives are required to prove their economic effectiveness by providing economic benefits to their members and by focusing on dominating the domestic market.
Politburo member and Permanent Member of the Party Secretariat Truong Tan Sang was speaking at the fourth Viet Nam Co-operative Alliance (VCA) Congress held yesterday in Ha Noi.
Sang said the development of the co-operative sector played an important role in economic growth and socio-political stability as the form of production was suitable for small enterprises.
Vice chairman of the VCA Nguyen Xuan Hien said the co-operative sector, which employed more than 12.5 million labourers, made an important contribution to many other economic sectors, especially agriculture and aquaculture. Co-operatives provided an annual contribution of about 5.45 per cent to the country's GDP and helped support the lives of 50 million people.
Co-operatives also contributed to the development of socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas and had mobilised different resources to implement economic restructuring and vocational training, Hien said.
He said this had helped poor areas escape poverty and improve people's living standards.
For example, Luong Hoa Lac Co-operative in southern Tien Giang Province exported coconut craft products and gained an export turnover of nearly US$1 million per year. This organisation had created jobs for more than 1,000 workers with a monthly income of between VND1-1.5 million ($52-78),
The chairman of southern Tien Giang Province's Co-operative Union Do Van Thuan said the Quang Minh and Tien Giang co-operatives had helped people escape poverty with a monthly salary of VND2 million ($105) per month.
Figures from the VCA showed that Viet Nam had more than 360,000 partner organisations, an increase of 20 per cent compared to 2005. More than 18,200 co-operatives and 53 co-operative unions operated in the fields of agriculture, handicrafts, construction, trade, services and aquaculture.
The average profit of these organisations had annually reached VND85.7 million ($4,510).
However, a lack of co-ordination between co-operatives and weak management capacity were shortcomings.
Representatives said the major and interdisciplinary co-operative alliances would soon be established nation-wide to tighten links.
They said the sector had set the target of developing about 900 new co-operatives in the next five years and enlarging new models of co-operatives with schools and housing. An annual growth rate of between 6.5-7.5 per cent had been targeted.
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