Workshop on the current state of development of agricultural cooperatives participating in the agricultural value chain in the Red River Delta region.

Attending the workshop were members of the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, leaders of departments, divisions, and institutes under several ministries and central agencies, cooperative alliances of provinces and cities in the Red River Delta region, and 40 cooperatives in Ninh Binh province.

At the workshop, delegates focused on analyzing the current state of development of agricultural cooperatives, identifying difficulties and bottlenecks affecting their operations, and proposing appropriate solutions. In particular, they conducted in-depth analyses of the agricultural value chain, management capacity, capital resources, land, human resource quality, product standards, logistics, and market access.

At the same time, focus on clarifying the development direction of agricultural cooperatives with appropriate scale, improving operational efficiency, and linking the interests of members with the capacity to organize production and product consumption.

Based on this, experts, scientists, and representatives of cooperatives also shared practical experiences and proposed solutions to strengthen linkages between cooperatives and businesses, scientists, and distribution systems; promote the application of science and technology, and digital transformation in production management, traceability, quality control, and market connectivity. The aim is to build substantive linkages that harmonize the interests of all parties, creating conditions for cooperatives to enhance their competitiveness and participate effectively in the agricultural value chain.

Echoing the sentiments of the delegates, Mr. Do Xuan Truong, Chairman of the Ninh Binh Provincial Cooperative Union, shared some insights to help agricultural cooperatives continue to effectively carry out their production and business activities.

This includes focusing on innovating the operating methods of agricultural cooperatives, the current state of linkages and participation in value chains; bottlenecks hindering cooperatives' deep involvement in the chain; and some solutions and recommendations to improve the market organization capacity and participation in value chains of cooperatives in the coming period. Emphasis is placed on organizing commodity production; forming raw material areas; applying safe production processes; developing OCOP products; applying science and technology; traceability; preliminary processing and processing; brand building; and connecting with businesses and distribution systems.

With the spirit of "Strong cooperatives lead to strong members; strong linkages create a sustainable value chain; deep participation enhances added value," the discussions at the workshop contributed to providing a more solid foundation for concretizing the development orientations of cooperatives. Simultaneously, it clarified the content that can be implemented at each level, from cooperatives and localities to the system level. This, in turn, provides a basis for building and perfecting mechanisms, policies, and implementation suitable for the development of agricultural cooperatives within the agricultural value chain in the Red River Delta region in the coming time.