In Ho Chi Minh City, each cooperative managed by women is not only the result of its members but also the active support of the City Women's Union at all levels and local departments. All of them work together to improve the economic capacity of female members.
Development through collective economic model
Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative (Phu Huu Ward, Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City), a unit specializing in high-tech clean vegetable production, is one of the cooperatives in Ho Chi Minh City with women participating in management roles. The cooperative has 7 members, of which 2 are female. Ms. Truong Ngoc Nhi participates in the management of the cooperative as Deputy Director.
"One of the reasons the cooperative was established is that we want people in Ho Chi Minh City to have access to clean vegetables at affordable prices; and local women to have stable jobs. From an initial garden of 1,000 square meters, the cooperative has now built many other gardens with a total area of 10,000 square meters. The cooperative has created jobs for 13 local workers, and when there are many seasonal orders, more women join in," Nhi shared.
In addition to the efforts of its members, the cooperative is also actively supported by the Women's Union and local departments. "Because I am a member of the Women's Union, I often participate in activities with the Women's Union in the ward and city. The women support me in borrowing capital to start a business, promote and introduce products, support the consumption of part of the product output, introduce me to participate in training courses on cooperative management, application of science and technology, digital transformation..." - Ms. Nhi said.
Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative creates jobs for many local female workers.
Ms. Trinh Thi Mai, a member of Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative, said: Since becoming a member of the cooperative, she has had a stable source of income. The members of the cooperative have just supported her in renting a space to open her own store selling agricultural supplies.
"I am a single mother, so the economic burden is always a big problem. Thanks to Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative, I know how to do business, and my children and I have a stable life. In addition to participating in production and management at the garden in Phu Huu ward, I am also supported to open my own store to sell clean vegetables, growing media, soil, etc. The ward Women's Union is supporting me in applying for a loan. Before that, the women let me attend classes on starting a business. Thanks to that, I learned and interacted with the women successfully, I feel more confident, and I communicate better," Mai shared.
Hydroponic pennywort growing area at Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative.
Not only supporting economic development for members of the cooperative, Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative is also currently cooperating with the Women's Union to create jobs for women in the area.
Ms. Le Thi Hoa, Head of the Women's Association of Ward 8 (Phu Huu Ward, Thu Duc City) said: "Currently, the Women's Association of Ward 8 is organizing the sale of clean vegetables from Tuan Ngoc Cooperative to raise funds to help members in difficult circumstances as well as homeless and abandoned children. In addition, other members can also buy vegetables to sell. Women can buy vegetables at wholesale prices, so they will have more profit, contributing to the development of the family economy."
Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union actively implements Project 01
The Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union is actively implementing the Project "Supporting cooperatives managed by women to create jobs for female workers by 2030" (Project 01), with the desire to support more women to participate in developing the collective economy, cooperatives, and creating jobs for female workers to overcome the effects of the current economic recession.
Dong Nhat Cooperative (Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City) is the first cooperative in Ho Chi Minh City established under Project 01. The cooperative was established to "join forces" with its members, support each other in production and business activities, and bring material and spiritual benefits to all members, the collective and the community. After more than 1 year of operation, the cooperative began to see some difficulties.
Ms. Le Thi Xuan Thuy, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Dong Nhat.vn Cooperative, said: "Our cooperative specializes in trading regional specialties. The goods sold by the cooperative have a certain reputation, creating trust with users. However, the current difficulty is that the purchasing power of the market has decreased, people are having difficulties, spending is tight, so the output is a bit difficult. In the near future, I will ask the Women's Union to connect the wards with each other, connect with female entrepreneurs to cross-sell each other, in order to increase output."
Opening ceremony of Dong Nhat Cooperative.vn (Tan Phu district, HCMC).
Ms. Truong Ngoc Nhi, Deputy Director of Tuan Ngoc Agricultural Cooperative, also proposed: "Currently, the Cooperative can supply the market with 800-900 kg of vegetables/day, however, we can only sell about 400-500 kg of vegetables/day. Due to economic difficulties, people often think that hydroponic vegetables will be more expensive, so they save more on spending. However, the price of vegetables sold by the Cooperative is quite affordable, and it is easy for women to buy. The Cooperative hopes to receive more support in terms of output, introducing the Cooperative to local supermarkets and retail channels; and additional capital support to import more machinery and input materials...".
To help women have confidence in the collective economic model, in recent times, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union at all levels has actively developed plans, concretized the goals and tasks of the Union and Project 01, and promoted the role of women in participating in and developing the collective economy and cooperatives.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union, in the first phase, the Union will maintain and organize training courses to improve knowledge and capacity to support the development of collective economy and cooperatives for non-professional Union officials and leaders of cooperatives and cooperative groups; communicate and introduce some new points of the Law on Cooperatives 2023 (amended); policies of the state and localities on the development of collective economy and cooperatives. Thu Duc City and 21 districts in the area coordinate with the City Cooperative Union every year to organize at least one class to communicate about the content related to Project 01. In 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union supported the establishment of 6 cooperatives under Project 01.
"Implementing Project 01 is one of the important contents that the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union is interested in. The Union has planned, organized communication, and closely followed up to grasp information about women who are producing or have business services in the same industry to connect with each other, establish cooperative models for mutual development. The Union both encourages the spirit and supports women to connect with businesses and experts to learn from experience, and apply science and technology to production and business."
Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Hoa, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City Women's Union
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/hoi-lhpn-tphcm-giup-hoi-vien-hop-suc-lam-kinh-te-20240930143624755.htm
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