Agriterra leads Masterplan on cooperative support for Vietnam

28-03-2017 On Thursday, March 23rd managing director of Agriterra, Kees Blokland signed an agreement with the Vietnamese Cooperative Alliance regarding a national Masterplan on cooperative support. The alliance represents more than 15,000 cooperatives in Vietnam.

"We feel greatly connected to the Vietnamese pursuit of having farmers and their organisations benefit from the economic growth in this beautiful country”. And that can be done in one way only: by including farmers' organisations and cooperatives in the growing economic trade by providing training, unlocking resources and exchanging experiences, "said Blokland. The signing ceremony took place in Hanoi in the presence of the Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường, and Vice-Minister of Economic Affairs, Marjolijn Sonnema; during a regional conference on food security, organised by the Dutch and Vietnamese governments.

The Vietnam Cooperative Alliance will take the lead in a major reform of the cooperative agenda in Vietnam in the next five years. The cooperatives will need to transform from traditional government-led organisations to businesses in which farmer members lead, invest in and benefit from their cooperatives. The Netherlands as a worldwide cooperative and agricultural leader can serve as a prime example on how progress can be made and will share its knowledge through Agriterra.

In 2012 a new Cooperative Law was introduced in Vietnam. The cooperative would embrace modern technologies, achieve better market access and scale up rapidly. All based on voluntary membership. In practice, this transformation has been disappointing. The objectives are nowhere near to being met. Agriterra sees an opportunity to give support and, as a leading specialist in cooperative business, will commit itself to the Vietnamese cause.

In the months to come, partnerships will be formed with institutional organisations, Vietnamese government agencies, national and international companies, financiers and other supporting organisations in the seven working areas of the Masterplan. Agriterra and VCA will simultaneously start cooperating in four regions by working with innovative cooperatives, scale up immediately after the first successes have been reached, to eventually cover the whole country.

If you want more information related to this item, please contact:
Luc Groot, business advisor Agriterra
Tel: +32 (0) 473 985 321
E-mail: groot@agriterra.org