• Dissemination of regulations on borrowing capital from the Cooperative Development Support Fund
  • Establishment of Tho Tien Agricultural - Aquatic Cooperative
  • Building a pilot model for high-quality and low-emission rice production at Hong Phat Cooperative
  • Discussing breakthrough solutions for key industries associated with collective economy

Innovation but still many limitations

Currently, the whole province of Ca Mau has over 1,400 cooperatives and cooperative groups, with 6,000 members, of which the agricultural sector accounts for 95%. Determining their functions and tasks as well as the province's strategic vision for cooperatives in the economic zone, in recent times, many cooperatives have continuously innovated in production, business and operation methods.

Ms. Mai Thi Thuy Trang, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Tai Thinh Phat Farm Cooperative (right cover) introduces typical products and shares the orientation of developing collective economy associated with building local brands.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ut, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tri Luc Agricultural Cooperative, shared: “In the past, Tri Luc Cooperative has closely and transparently linked people with businesses, especially applying the form of “collective buying, collective selling”. At the same time, we have been proactive in searching, selecting and signing contracts with reputable businesses in the market to ensure the quality of seeds, input material prices and selling prices. The higher the productivity and profit, the more members trust the cooperative.”

However, cooperatives in the province are still facing many difficulties in the operation process. Specifically, cooperative staff are mainly part-time, have not received specialized training in cooperative economics, have weak capacity to develop business plans; lack investment capital and poor facilities. In particular, the ability to adapt to the market, apply digital transformation and build brands is still low...

Solutions to support cooperative development

In order for cooperatives to truly become the core in developing the collective economy, Ca Mau is actively implementing many solutions to improve the operational capacity of cooperatives. In particular, focusing on training, increasing the organization of training courses, inviting experts to support the development of specific and practical production and business plans. The province also supports cooperatives in applying accounting software, tracing origins, building sales websites, and e-commerce platforms.

In addition, the province also strives to develop OCOP products from cooperatives, especially typical potential products such as: dried shrimp, wild honey, clean vegetables, high-quality rice... Supporting cooperatives to participate in the OCOP Program opens up opportunities to increase product value and sustainable development.

Ms. Tran Thi Xa, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Dam Doi Ba Khia Cooperative, expressed: “All cooperatives want the province to support the approach and output for the cooperative through connection programs so that we can introduce and widely promote our products. Not only in the province and in the country, but we will also have access to potential customers abroad, to have the opportunity to export local products through official channels.”

Dam Doi Ba Khia Cooperative is busy in production, demonstrating the effort to develop the value of typical OCOP products.

The market economy is not only an important economic component but also the foundation for sustainable rural economic development in the context of deep economic integration.

Mr. Tran Van Man, Vice Chairman of the Cooperative Union of Ca Mau Province, said: “Currently, most of the staff in cooperatives are elderly, so their ability to study and improve their knowledge is limited. Therefore, inviting young staff to work in cooperatives plays an extremely important role. In addition, cooperatives need to diversify their products and build their product brands to increase their competitive advantage in the context of a continuously developing market.”

Over the past time, the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee have always paid attention to directing and focusing many resources to help the KTTT area develop more and more strongly.

“ We need to focus on quickly overcoming the limitations and shortcomings while raising awareness of the nature, position, role and importance of the collective economy. In addition, the organization of cooperative activities needs to be strengthened and chain linkages implemented, continuing to mobilize enterprises to participate in the establishment and organization of cooperative activities and mobilizing appropriate resources to support cooperatives. Party committees and local authorities at all levels identify the development of collective economy and model cooperatives as a key political task in the local socio-economic development plan”, Comrade Pham Thanh Ngai, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee   emphasized at the Conference on implementing the Economic Development Plan of Ca Mau province in 2025.

When organized properly, managed effectively and linked to the market, cooperatives will be a "launching pad" for thousands of households in the province to grow and do big business, contributing to restructuring the agricultural economy and promoting the development of the collective economy in a substantial and sustainable manner./.

Lam Khanh - Hoang Vu

Source: https://baocamau.vn/nang-cao-nang-luc-hoat-dong-cua-hop-tac-xa--a121699.html