First white book on Vietnamese cooperatives released

The paper provides information about the development levels of cooperatives in the country and localities from 2016 – 2018. It also proposes solutions for cooperative development.

The white book was compiled based on data collected from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.

It shows that 2,569 new cooperatives were established in 2018, adding up to a total of 22,861 by December 31, 2018. The figures increased 9.5% and 8.8% respectively year-on-year.

Also in 2018, the net revenue of the 13,958 surveyed cooperatives hit VND88.59 trillion (about US$3.77 billion), up 9.6% year-on-year. However, their pre-tax profit declined 27.8% to VND2.57 trillion.

The monthly per capita income of those cooperatives was VND3.84 million on average, increasing by 3.2% from 2017 but still much lower than VND8.82 million in businesses.

GSO General Director Nguyen Bich Lam said the collective economy, of which cooperatives are the most important element, has gradually become a solid foundation of the national economy, and developing the collective economy is a consistent policy of the Party and State.

However, cooperatives still need to make strong reforms to develop amid the country’s intensive processes of integration, he said.