Quang Nam collective economy awaits loan "boost"

Mr. Tran Van Ninh - Director of Binh Nam Cooperative (left cover) and the model of cooperation with peanut farmers. Photo: Q.VIET

Registered at a cooperative

Over the years, Binh Nam Agricultural Service Cooperative (Binh Nam Cooperative, Thang Binh) has affirmed its role as a "midwife" for farmers in the area.

Mr. Tran Van Ninh - Director of Binh Nam Cooperative said that after being established in 2012, the Cooperative improved the fields, introduced mechanization into production, and purchased products for farmers.

The cooperative has boldly linked 4 parties (State, scientists, enterprises, farmers) to expand the area and mobilize people to change the crop structure. Up to now, it has successfully converted 200 hectares of peanut cultivation from ineffective 2-crop rice land and 8 hectares of lotus cultivation.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Vu - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the province currently has 530 cooperatives, cooperative groups and 1 cooperative union. The collective economy promotes linkages in production value chains to increase output, productivity, reduce input costs, and increase economic value.

Cooperatives and cooperative groups increase the value of services provided to members, create jobs for workers, actively contribute to new rural construction and sustainable poverty reduction.

Many cooperatives have created outstanding OCOP products and digital transformation to change traditional management methods, improve quality and operational efficiency.

Binh Nam Cooperative has continuously expanded its network of agricultural services from input to output. The Cooperative has invested in infrastructure, machinery and equipment quite fully including office buildings, drying yards, drying ovens, plowing - transplanting - harvesting machines, vehicles for harvesting rice and beans, seeding machines, peanut bedding machines, peanut harvesting machines, new technology oil presses and agricultural supplies stores.

For farmers without capital, the cooperative invests in a complete package of fertilizers, mechanization services, product purchases and payments at the end of the season. By applying all machinery and investing in common fertilizers, the products produced are of high quality, costs are reduced, and farmers earn higher incomes.

Binh Nam Cooperative produces rice seeds. Photo: Q.VIET

Binh Nam Cooperative has accumulated land, producing 52.7 hectares of rice and 40 hectares of peanuts through two forms: land lease contracts or production linkages with farmers.

The cooperative and farmers cooperate in producing rice seeds with Quang Binh Seed Company; coordinate with the provincial and district agricultural sectors to implement a smart agricultural project adapting to climate change with a scale of 50 hectares of rice and 30 hectares of peanuts in Thai Dong and Nghia Hoa villages.

People participating in the project are supported with 100% of rice and peanut seeds for production and are supported with intensive farming techniques and pest control.

Mr. Tran Van Ninh said that Binh Nam Cooperative is in need of loans from credit institutions in the province to expand its production and business scale, bringing greater profits to the Cooperative and farmers. Mr. Ninh hopes that credit institutions will simplify procedures, especially in reviewing loan plans objectively to access capital.

Clean production at Thang Binh High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative. Photo: Q.VIET

Creating momentum with credit

Mr. Pham Trong - Director of the State Bank of Vietnam, Quang Nam branch, said that credit institutions in the province are focusing on lending capital to agriculture and rural areas according to Decree No. 55 of the Government. So far, 35 trillion VND has been disbursed to cooperatives to develop production and business.

The current difficulty is that no cooperative group (THT) or cooperative union has access to loans from commercial banks. The State Bank of Vietnam, Quang Nam branch, has applied many solutions to promote credit to the collective economy, but currently commercial banks do not highly appreciate the production and business plans of the collective economy.

Many cooperatives, cooperative groups, and cooperative unions want to access loans for investment, but their collateral is not highly valued by credit institutions. "The State Bank of Vietnam, Quang Nam branch, will continue to have solutions to open up capital for the collective economy, creating a driving force for development in the agricultural and rural areas," said Mr. Pham Trong.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Quang Buu said that the development of the collective economy is still facing difficulties; the recovery and development of cooperatives and cooperative groups are not uniform, even some cooperatives are suffering losses, reducing output and scale.

Some localities have not done a good job of handling cooperatives that have stopped operating for a long time. Many cooperatives have not focused on building value chain linkages, production is still small-scale, and not linked to the market.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Quang Buu assigned the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and localities to support cooperatives and cooperative groups to operate in accordance with the Law on Cooperatives 2023, effective from July 2024.

The agricultural sector and localities need to effectively implement the Provincial People's Committee's plan on collective economic development associated with restructuring the agricultural sector and building new rural areas, including expanding cooperatives and cooperative groups for sustainable development, creating momentum for socio-economic development.

Mr. Le Ngoc Trung - Chairman of Quang Nam Cooperative Union said that the total outstanding loans for collective economy of the Cooperative Development Support Fund as of December 31, 2023 is more than 109,878 billion VND.

The fund's preferential lending activities have promptly supported a portion of capital for collective economic production and business, creating a driving force for the development of agricultural and rural areas.

Up to now, the loan capital structure of the Cooperative Development Support Fund has mainly focused on the agriculture - forestry - fishery sector (75.73% of outstanding loans), the industrial, handicraft and service sectors account for 24.27%.

“We continue to do a good job of consulting and supporting the implementation of loan applications for collective economies; completing the reception, appraisal, and approval of applications to quickly disburse loans,” said Mr. Trung.

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