Agricultural cooperatives

Ninh Thuan (VNS/VNA) – Agriculture cooperatives in the south-central province of Ninh Thuan have linked up with companies to increase product value and guarantee outlets, the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has said.

Up to 24 of the province’s 63 agriculture cooperatives have linkages with companies to develop value chains for their products like rice, corn, grapes, asparagus and organic cashew nuts.

The 24 cooperatives produce agricultural products on large-scale fields that use advanced farming techniques.

Many products of the cooperatives have been granted international standard certificates from the EU and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Vietnamese good agricultural practices (VietGAP).

The Tuan Tu General Service Cooperative in Ninh Phuoc district’s An Hai commune grows asparagus on a large-scale field to VietGAP standards and has a farm contract with Tien Tien Organic Agriculture Farm to guarantee outlets for its members.

Hung Ky, director of the Tuan Tu General Service Cooperative, said: “The cooperative supplies loans and fertilisers to its members to grow asparagus and teaches them techniques to produce safe, quality products.”

The agriculture cooperatives ‘ products have been included in the country’s “one commune – one product” (OCOP) programme in the province.

OCOP products are commercial products and services such as food and beverages, handicrafts and rural tourism services. They are classified at five levels, with a five – star being the highest level.

Dang Kim Cuong, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and deputy chairman of the appraisal board for the province’s OCOP programme, said that seven cooperatives participated in the province’s OCOP programme last year.

The cooperative’s products like red onion, fresh jujube, dried jujube and asparagus are rated three or four-star OCOP products.

The province is promoting OCOP products in combination with tourism services via cooperatives, companies and households.

The Thai An General Agriculture Service Cooperative in Ninh Hai district’s Vinh Hai commune had its NH01 – 152 grape recognised as a four-star OCOP product last year, and its NH01 – 152 grape growing area has become a tourism destination.

Nguyen Khac Phong, director of Thai An, said the province had assigned the co-operative to expand the cultivation of its NH01 – 152 grape to serve tourism services.

Besides its NH01 – 152 grape, Thai An has other seven products, including dried jujube, dried grape, and fresh red grape and grape wine, granted as three-star OCOP products.

“The co-operative’s OCOP products have created motivation for the co-operative to promote production and expand its market,” he said.

With their effective operation, the provinces’ agriculture cooperatives had an average revenue of 2.1 billion VND (90,000 USD) and average profit of 250 million VND (10,800 USD) last year, up 9.4 percent and 13.6 percent, respectively, against 2019, according to the province’s Co-operative Alliance.

Collective economy

Ninh Thuan targets that its collective economy will contribute 8.8 – 9 percent of its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) this year, according to the provincial People’s Committee.

The province aims to establish 10 – 12 new cooperatives and 10 – 15 new co-operative groups, with a total of 200 – 300 members, this year.

Its goal is to have average revenue of 2.2 – 2.25 billion VND (95,000 – 97,200 USD) this year for cooperatives and an average revenue of 260 – 270 million VND for cooperative groups.

It also plans to have 50 – 60 percent of cooperatives operating effectively by 2025, and for the collective economy to contribute 10 – 11 percent of its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2025.

The province will encourage the development of cooperatives in agriculture, small industry, commerce and services, and promote effective new-style cooperatives, and cooperatives that link up with companies to produce agricultural products on large-scale fields with value chains.

Tran Quoc Nam, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said: “The province will help cooperatives to access the central and local governments’ preferential policies on land, loans, infrastructure, human resource training, and advanced techniques for production.”

It will also arrange trade promotions at home and abroad to expand markets for products of cooperatives.

Ninh Thuan, which has the least rainfall in the country, has developed 12 specifically identified products, including grape, jujube, asparagus, sheep, goat, Ca Na fish sauce, My Nghiep brocade products and Bau Truc pottery products./.

VNA

A working group from Vietnam plans to visit agricultural suppliers in the US, with a view to importing agricultural products and technologies to support domestic production and consumption.

A Vietnamese working group led by Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh is scheduled to visit the US from February 24 to 29 to seek greater cooperation in agricultural trade.

Illustrative photo.

The group consists of 19 enterprises and one associations specialized in production of cereals, animal feed, meat, milk products, seafood, vegetables, wooden products, fertilizer and chemicals.

According to the working program, the group would visit agricultural suppliers in the US, with an aim of importing agricultural products and technologies to support domestic production and consumption; promoting cooperation and agro-forestry-fishery trade between enterprises from the two countries; looking for opportunities for technology transfer in agricultural sector towards the development of domestic production chain and addressing pending issues in bilateral agricultural trade.

US exports to Vietnam have been rising steadily from US$9.35 billion in 2017 to US$14.37 billion in 2019, a 53% increase in two years. For fresh fruits, export turnover from the US to Vietnam increased from US$210 million to US$304 million during the period, up 51%.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development gives priority to cooperation with US partners inr hi-tech farming and organic agriculture, targeting an increase of US$3 billion in agricultural exports in the coming time.

Farm produce shipments from the US to Vietnam have increasing steadily recently, helping to ease the widening trade deficit with Vietnam.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said Vietnam’s agriculture is among the hardest-hit sectors as exports to China are poised to plunge under the effect of Covid-19.

China is currently one of the major export markets for Vietnamese fisheries and agricultural products, accounting for 22 – 24% of the country’s farm exports.

Cuong, nevertheless, said this would be an opportunity for Vietnam to restructure the agricultural sector to avoid dependence on a single market.

The view was shared by leaders of the two localities during their online working session on March 19.

Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, briefed the RoK side on the city’s economic development in 2020, with a growth rate of 1.39 percent amidst the COVID-19 spread.

He highlighted the significance of international resources to HCM City’s implementation of the dual goals of containing the pandemic and recovering the economy.

The RoK is one of the countries with the biggest number of localities (seven) that have set up cooperation with HCM City, Phong said, adding that the southern metropolis wishes to soon establish its friendship and cooperation with Jeollabuk.

The East Asian nation ranks third among 110 countries and territories investing in HCM City, according to the official. Nearly 80,000 Koreans and 2,000 Korean firms are living and operating in the city, with such major groups as Samsung, Lotte, Emart and CJ.

For his part, Song Ha-Jin, Governor of Jeollabuk, said a number of startups from Jeollabuk have begun studying investment opportunities in Vietnam.

Vietnam is a key destination of the RoK’s New Southern Policy. Therefore, apart from startup and high-tech agriculture, Jeollabuk wants to join hands with the country and HCM City in particular in tourism and culture, he stressed.

Lauding Jeollabuk’s cooperation proposals and support in the formation of the KORETOVIET exhibition centre, Phong said the centre is expected to create a joint playground for businesses of the two sides, thus promoting the development of startups.

Hanoi (VNS/VNA) – Most cooperatives have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic while only a small proportion of them have benefited from support policies, heard a forum held by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on March 24.

The forum discussed policy access and solutions to enhance cooperatives’ resilience and adaptation in the new normal context.

A survey conducted by the VCA and UNDP showed the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the operations of the cooperatives at an average level of 3.84/5, where 5 was the most serious impact. Tourism sector cooperatives were the hardest hit with an almost absolute impact rating of 4.83/5.

The survey was conducted on 174 cooperatives in 24 provinces and cities and 34 cooperative alliances of provinces and cities. It assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cooperatives in Vietnam as well as the capacity of cooperatives to adapt during the pandemic.

The revenue and profit of cooperatives also decreased significantly during the pandemic. Statistics showed 82.2 percent of cooperatives have suffered reduced revenue, of which, 42.5 percent of cooperatives have seen their revenue cut by more than half. Profits of the cooperatives also declined.

Only a few cooperatives in the monetary and agricultural sectors are still profitable.

To cope with the pandemic, the Government has issued many mechanisms and policies to support taxes, fees and loan interest rates. Along with that are resolutions and circulars supporting labourers, reducing electricity prices and cutting fees related to a number of travel permits.

However, the survey showed the sector’s ability to grasp and access policies is still limited.

Forty-one percent of the total cooperatives surveyed said they did not know about the policy of the zero percent lending interest rate to cooperatives to pay salaries for employees who aren’t working.

Thirty-eight percent of cooperatives do not understand the policy of reducing the retail electricity price for production and business activities.

The rate and number of cooperatives benefiting from the support policies is also very limited, with only 14 percent of cooperatives benefitting from the value-added tax payment deadline extension.

The percentage of cooperatives enjoying electricity price reductions and corporate income tax reductions are only 12 percent and 10 percent respectively. For the remaining policies, according to the survey, the percentage of cooperatives benefiting ranges from 3 to 6 percent.

Based on the survey, VCA and UNDP agreed that in the short term, the Government should amend regulations on the conditions for benefits and policies for cooperatives flexibly, in line with reality and the conditions of cooperatives.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, VCA chairman Nguyen Ngoc Bao suggested the Government pay attention to solutions and policies on financial support, development of professional knowledge and skills for workers of cooperatives.

Communications should also be promoted so that cooperatives that really need support don’t miss out.

The policy enforcement mechanism for cooperatives should also be simpler, clear, accessible and easy to implement, he added./.

VNA

Vietnam is looking for cooperation with French companies in fields of renewable and green energies, hi-tech, agriculture, manufacturing and processing.

With the enactment of the EU – Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU – Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), it is expected that more European businesses, French ones included, will be looking for strategic partnerships with Vietnamese peers to form new production and supply chains.

Overview of the online conference. Photo: MoIT.

The growing interest of French businesses presents opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to further integrate into global value chains, but also requires them to change their business mindset, production method and corporate governance to meet strict requirements of the European market, said a representative of over 400 French companies participating at an online conference discussing the EVFTA impacts on July 8.

The event was the first of its kind held by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and a European country regarding the EVFTA, aiming to equip all parties involved with useful information before the deal comes into effect on August 1, 2020, stated the MoIT.

More French and European businesses will be looking for strategic partnership with local peers to form new production and supply chains. Photo: MoIT.

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said Vietnam is looking to cooperate with French companies in the fields of renewable and green energies, hi-tech, agriculture, manufacturing and processing, in which French companies have strong expertise.

The Vietnamese government would create the utmost conditions in terms of business environment, infrastructure conditions to boost cooperation between the two business communities, Minister Anh stated.

Trade between Vietnam and France more than tripled from US$1.6 billion in 2009 to US$5.3 billion in 2019, in which France is Vietnam’s third largest trading partner in Europe, only behind Germany and the Netherlands.

As of May, France has 588 ongoing projects in Vietnam with capital of a combined US$3.56 billion, being the second largest European investor in Vietnam, behind the Netherlands.

Due to Covid-19 damage, Vietnam – France trade revenue in the first five months declined by 18.66% year-on-year to US$1.77 billion. The MoIT expected a recovery in trade could only happen in the final months of the year after France restarts its economy.