From "prolonged weakness", agricultural cooperatives have developed and matured remarkably.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that in order to restructure the agricultural sector towards increasing added value and sustainable development, in 2003, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development established the Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development on the basis of merging the Department of Settlement and New Economic Zones with the Department of Agricultural Policy and Rural Development. In 2008, the name was changed to the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development.

On April 9, the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) solemnly held a ceremony to celebrate its 20th anniversary (2003-2023). Photo: Khuong Luc

Agricultural cooperatives have undergone qualitative transformation, production chains have become popular.

With 20 years of growth and development, the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development has advised the Ministry's leaders on many outstanding results, first of all in cooperative economics. According to Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, the main function of cooperative economics is to support individual households to access the market economy through the agricultural cooperative model.

However, because producers still have old-fashioned concepts and perceptions of cooperatives, cooperatives face many difficulties in development.

"By 2015, the Secretariat had concluded 56, which stated that "the long-standing weakness of agricultural cooperatives must be overcome". On that basis, the National Assembly also had a resolution to develop 15,000 agricultural cooperatives" - Mr. Nam informed.

Based on the conclusions of the Secretariat and the Resolution of the National Assembly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has developed a project to develop 15,000 agricultural cooperatives, in which the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development is the leading unit advising and guiding localities with the coordination of units of the Ministry.

From 8,000 agricultural cooperatives in 2003, the country now has more than 21,000 agricultural cooperatives and has developed and matured remarkably. "We assess that there has been a qualitative change in agricultural cooperatives," said Deputy Minister Nam, adding that more than 10% of cooperatives have enterprises in the cooperative and 30% of cooperatives are linked with enterprises. This is an initial signal that also affirms the steps of agricultural cooperatives in the new period.

At the ceremony, Mr. Le Duc Thinh - Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development said that developing the collective economy and cooperatives is an important political task of the Department. "This sector has now "overcome previous weaknesses, developed steadily, increased both in quantity and quality" and is becoming an important institution in rural areas" - Mr. Thinh affirmed.

Based on production practices, in 2018, the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development advised the Ministry to submit to the Government Decree 98/2018/ND-CP on policies to encourage the development of cooperation and linkage in production and consumption of agricultural products. Up to now, 30% of cooperatives have participated in linkages and the value of products created in these linkage chains accounts for about 21.6%.

Regarding rural development, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said that up to now, the country has had over 11,000 OCOP products everywhere in the country. "Currently, the OCOP movement has also developed widely, this is a rural economic development program. These are the results, including the contributions and efforts of the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development" - Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam commented.

The Department needs to advise the Ministry to submit to the Government a Decree on rural management.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam pointed out that the new requirements of industrialization and modernization of agriculture and rural areas are posing many problems for the agriculture and rural development sector in general and the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development in particular, namely: promoting large-scale production, ensuring productivity, quality and added value of agricultural products.

Therefore, he suggested that the leaders of the Department of Cooperative Economy and Rural Development continue to promote the achievements that have been made, proactively advise the leaders of the Ministry to promote the cooperative economy to new heights with effective, multi-service cooperative models that adapt to the market; develop farm economy and promote production linkages along the value chain.

Currently, the country has over 20,000 farms, contributing greatly to local economic development. "The trend of farm economy is developing and expanding not only in production but also in services, especially tourism and trade services, so the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development must research and advise the Ministry to submit to the Ministry to submit to the Government mechanisms and legal bases for farm economy development" - Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam raised the issue.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam also directed the Department to advise the Ministry to complete the legal basis to orient and direct development, especially the legal basis on mechanization, farm economy and rural management. Currently, the Department is advising the Ministry to submit to the Government a Decree on synchronous mechanization.

"The new rural program has been evaluated by the Party and Government leaders as a program with great, historic and comprehensive achievements. However, up to now, there is still no legal basis for rural development. We have planned to discuss with the Ministry of Construction. In the near future, the Ministry of Construction will advise the Government on a Law on Urban and Rural Planning, and we also plan to propose that the Department of Economic Cooperation study and advise the Ministry to submit to the Government a Decree on rural management," said Deputy Minister Nam.

At the ceremony, the Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development was honored to receive the Government's Emulation Flag for its excellent and comprehensive completion of its tasks, leading the emulation movement in 2022 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Source