TVN - Recently, The Saigon Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op) collaborated with the Consumer Committee and the Business and Trade Committee from International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) to organize the 2024 International Cooperative Alliance Regional Conference in Vietnam. This is also a highlight of Saigon Co.op's 35th anniversary celebration.
Lasting for 3 days, from the 21st to 23rd of May, the theme of the workshop is “Cooperative relations between cooperatives: Connecting through trade and consumption networks” with the participation of delegates from Japan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, and so on, hosted by Vietnam.
At the conference, delegates from participating countries introduce the models of cooperatives they are working on. In addition, there are exchanges and discussions to clarify the cooperative relationship between cooperatives, specifically how to foster connections through trade and consumption networks.
According to Mr. Vu Anh Khoa - Chairman of the Board of Directors, Saigon Co.op, as a collective economic unit and the largest cooperative in Vietnam, is fully aware of its responsibility in cooperating with the International Cooperative Alliance to promote the collective economic movement in Vietnam and the region. Therefore, according to Mr. Vu Anh Khoa, The 2024 International Cooperative Alliance Regional Conference offers Saigon Co.op a valuable opportunity to meet and exchange initiatives with domestic and foreign cooperatives, which is a condition to show the commitment to social responsibility and responsibility to support the development of the international cooperative movement; facilitating the exchange between Vietnamese goods and goods from other countries on the basis of cooperation among cooperatives, promoting the growth of cooperatives.
Regarding Vietnamese retail market as well as the operating model of Saigon Co.op, Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc - Chairman of the Vietnam Retailers Association, General Director of Saigon Co.op said: The retail industry is contributing 35% to Vietnam's GDP but current retail growth still comes from traditional channels, indicating significant untapped potential for modern retail. “Vietnam has enjoyed 16 consecutive years of growth in retail market and cooperatives should take advantage of this period to expand their market share. Saigon Co.op is willing to partner up with cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region and across the world to foster the development of the cooperative economy," Mr. Duc affirmed.
In fact, in Vietnam, the cooperative economy has been formed and operated for a long time. However, the turning point marking the development of this economic model is associated with the renewal, integration, and market economy when Resolution No. 13-NQ/TW dated on March 18th, 2002, the 5th Central Party Executive Committee Conference (9th tenure) on continuing to innovate, develop and improve the efficiency of the collective economy was issued. The collective economy and cooperative sector has directly contributed to economic growth (according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, the collective economy and cooperative sector contributes nearly 4% of GDP) and indirectly through its impact on household economy, significantly contributing to the development of the individual and household economic sector (currently accounting for about 30% of the country's GDP). In many localities, cooperatives play an essential role in developing large-scale agricultural commodity production areas for processing and export.
Vietnam is currently building an independent and self-reliant economy, along with deep, substantial and effective international integration. Therefore, the collective economy and cooperative sector must also develop towards self-reliance and self-strengthening, coupled with strengthening linkages among members, between the collective economy and other economic sectors, and expanding deep, substantial, and effective international cooperation.
