VFF President urges development of new-style co-operative

NDO—Politburo member and President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan has stressed the importance of developing the new-style co-operative model, contributing to sustainably improving farmers’ incomes.

At the working session. (Credit: vietnamnet.vn)
At the working session. (Credit: vietnamnet.vn)

The VFF leader was speaking at his working session with the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) Central Committee in Hanoi on September 17.

Addressing the working session, VFF President Nhan appreciated the role of Vietnamese farmers in the development of the country. More than ten million farming households around the country are producing a huge number of agricultural products.

According to the VFF President, to sustainably develop Vietnamese agricultural production, it is essential to promote the construction of new-style cooperatives, creating breakthroughs in agricultural restructuring.

The relevant agencies should focus on training management officials who can connect farmers and help them efficiently develop the agricultural economy, said Politburo member Nguyen Thien Nhan.

He added that in recent years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development along with the VFF Central Committee, the Vietnam Co-operative Alliance and the VFU have worked with local authorities and outstanding farmers, especially in the Mekong Delta, to build new-style co-operatives in agriculture, fishery and crafts.

He also emphasised the important role of the VFU Central Committee in directing farmers to participate in business cooperatives and to encourage them to expand the scale of their production.

Regarding food safety in agricultural production, the VFF leader asked the VFU to pay a great deal of attention to calling on farmers to say “no” to dirty food and to adhere to the criteria for producing safe products to evaluate farming families in rural areas.

At the working session, Chairman of the VFU Central Committee Lai Xuan Mon said that to date, its Fund for Supporting Farmers had raised more than VND2.3 trillion (over US$103 million).

The union has coordinated with the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) to provide farmers with loans of nearly VND80 trillion, and has also connected with enterprises to provide them with and to help them buy fertiliser, agricultural machinery and equipment worth hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong per year.

The VFU leader also expressed his hope that the Party, State and VFF would promote investment in agriculture, farmers and rural areas, helping the Vietnamese agricultural sector to meet the requirements of the new generation of free trade agreements.