With the goal of developing the collective economy, improving the lives and income of cooperative members, many cooperatives in Da Nang are constantly striving to become typical units in the fields of value chain development, agricultural products, and services. These cooperatives have been honored with CoopStar Award by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance.

Mr. Ngo Van Sinh, CEO of the Hoa Tien 1 General Business and Production Services Cooperative located in Hoa Tien Commune, Hoa Vang District represented his cooperative to receive CoopStar Award 2024. Photo: VAN HOANG

Cooperative becomes reliable place for its members

The Da Nang Car and Tourist Vehicle Transportation Support Services Cooperative located in An Hai Tay Ward, Son Tra District was one of two cooperatives to receive CoopStar Award 2024 from the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance in April.

Mr. Tran Doan, the Cooperative’s CEO said that the award is an honor in recognition of the tireless efforts of the cooperative’s workers and members. Over the past 46 years, the cooperative has strived to overcome difficulties to successfully develop a new production model, thereby making it a reliable place for its members.

The cooperative now has 245 participating members, including 185 direct members with a combined total number of vehicles in operation being 176. The cooperative mainly gets involved in transporting passengers, signing contracts with coach stations and parking facilities, acting as a car insurance agent, and a bank guarantee for the cooperative’s members to access bank loan in order to allow them to renew their vehicles.

The cooperative was continuously awarded the Excellent Emulation Flag in 2022 and 2023 by the municipal government.

According to Mr. Doan, the motto ‘All for wealthy members – strong sustainability of the cooperative’ is both a goal and a corporate culture of cooperatives during its development process.

In its efforts to achieve this goal, over recent years, the cooperative has always adhered to the principles, Cooperative Law, and Cooperative Charter while actively providing practical support for its members to develop production and business activities. In particular, the cooperative has established its internal credit fund in order to allow its members to access a short-term loan without having to mortgage to upgrade and repair their vehicles. Furthermore, the cooperative has also focused on implementing management measures, using monitoring software to track the activities of its members’ vehicles, issuing the new standards for their journey management system. Moreover, heed has been paid to educating drivers on traffic safety. Special attention has been paid to improving the material and spiritual life of the cooperative’s members and employees.

Developing commodity value chain

The Hoa Tien 1 General Business and Production Services Cooperative located in Hoa Tien Commune, Hoa Vang District is the another CoopStar Award 2024 receiver. The agricultural cooperative has gained impressive achievements in developing value chains, supplying seeds, setting up growing areas that meet VietGAP standards.

In 2023, the cooperative re-operated Cam Ne vegetable fields while proactively coordinating with the Hoa Vang District Agricultural Agency to open training courses on vegetable growing techniques for farmers. As a result, their vegetable fields were recognized as a safe vegetable growing area by competent bodies, thereby creating a premise for their products that met VietGAP standards.

In particular, last year, the cooperative boldly built a rice milling plant and introduced its new ‘Hoa Tien Rice’ product into the market. This product was the first rice product in the district which was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product under the national One Commune One Product Program by Hoa Vang District People's Committee.

The cooperative also cooperated with production units to grow 75 hectares of Ha Phat 3 rice varieties, an increase of 19.7% compared to 2022, equivalent to 375 tons of rice varieties. During 2023, the cooperative earned revenues of around VND 4 billion, up 10.9% compared to previous year.

According to Mr. Ngo Van Sinh, CEO of the Hoa Tien 1 General Business and Production Services Cooperative, the Cooperative has actively responded to emulation movements launched by the Da Nang Cooperative Alliance. Focus has been on shifting crops and livestock products towards higher value ones while applying effective techniques into intensive farming in order to increase crop productivity, as well as investing in mechanization of agriculture and rural areas. Therefore, crop productivity and efficiency have been improved significantly while the output value per growing area has also increased dramatically, thereby contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, as well as economic restructuring in the commune, and the district as whole, and creating job opportunities for local residents.

“The CoopStar Award is recognition of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance for the efforts of our members. The award motivates us to continue our efforts to achieve our goals, improve our operational efficiency, and contribute to the development of the collective economy in the locality," Mr. Sinh remarked.

Mr. Tran Van Hien, Vice Chairman of the Da Nang Cooperative Alliance, said that the CoopStar is the first award granted by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance in a bid to honor cooperatives for their outstanding achievements in developing production, and contributing to the country's socio-economic development.

There are one agricultural cooperative and one non-agricultural one in Da Nang to receive this award. These are two typical and leading units in developing the value chain of goods and services in Da Nang, and Viet Nam as a whole.

In the coming time, the Da Nang Cooperative Alliance will continue its efforts to promote the development of the collective economy while providing practical support, and maximize available resources to increase the efficiency of cooperatives in the city.

Reporting by VAN HOANG - Translating by MAI DUNG