(VOVworld) – Joining production, distribution, and consumption chains is a must for the development of new-style cooperatives. The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance is outlining new-style cooperative models linked with product value chains on a large and wide spread scale.  

Fruits are on sale at Co.op Mart in Hanoi. (Photo: Huy Hung/ VNA)

Cooperatives are an important link connecting farmers and enterprises. In the past, without production chain, the output was unstable, making it difficult to control product quality, renovate production processes, and led to low economic efficiency.

Le Duc Thinh, Deputy Director of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “Non-chain production will restrict investment attraction and lack linkage. Connectivity will ensure sustainable development based on which credit or financial institutions will offer loans and minimize administrative procedures.”

To develop new-style cooperatives sustainably, it requires the involvement of businesses in linking the value chains from input to output besides the state assistance.

Truong Huu Trung, President of the Board of Directors of Ha Tinh Minerals and Trading Corporation, highlighted his company’s success in linking cooperatives together to establish a product value chain.

According to Trung, “Businesses should develop professional market strategies and consolidate brands and trust among farmers. Enterprises should harmonize their benefits and that of cooperatives, cooperative groups, and farmers. Cooperatives and farmers should change their ways of thinking and increase their responsibility for implementing economic contracts. By these means we can develop the agriculture sector more sustainably.”

Vo Kim cu, President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, emphasized the need to reach agreement on the varieties and technologies and set up cooperatives specializing in breed supply, technology transfer, product processing, purchasing, and consumption.     

“The alliance will link cooperatives and cooperative groups and increase responsibility by fulfilling their duties in regards of signing delivery contracts and ensuring quality, reliability, and quantity,” said Cu.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front President, Nguyen Thien Nhan, said improvements in the agricultural sector’s competitiveness should be made through connecting cooperative models with businesses.

He added: “The key to restructuring and improving agricultural efficiency is by changing the production model from individual production to cooperatives and business connectivity. It’s time to change the state management to implement the collective model.”

The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance intends to form up to 150 cooperative alliances linked with product value chains by 2020. The government will fund the building of 200 new-model cooperatives by province, region, and inter-region. These efforts are intended to create breakthroughs in agricultural development.