Vietnam places all cards on the development of cooperatives

Vietnam was dissatisfied with the development of cooperatives along the lines of the socialist model and has changed course over the last few years. It has turned its eyes to the Netherlands. A sizeable delegation with unprecedented media attention from Vietnam will therefore be arriving in the Netherlands on Wednesday, 28 March. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, one of the most influential persons from the Communist Party of Vietnam and President of the Parliament of the Can Tho Province leads the delegation of 20 people.

They will be received by Her Majesty Queen Máxima who recently visited Vietnam. In addition, they are going to consult with Agriterra. This advisory organisation is the link between the Dutch organised agriculture and the Vietnamese cooperatives. Agriterra has been invited to coordinate the outside support of the conversion of the cooperatives into modern, market-driven and high-tech companies. The cooperatives must make the transition from traditional, politically managed organisations to modern companies where the farmers determine, pay and profit from their companies. The Netherlands is not only internationally renowned because of the best agricultural university in the world, our position as second largest exporter of agricultural products and our high agricultural productivity, which, moreover, scores well in terms of sustainability. Our cooperative companies are also among the top 300 cooperative companies and can compete with listed companies.

In the World Horti Centre, the most important innovation centre of the international greenhouse horticulture sector in Naaldwijk, Agriterra and the Vietnamese delegation will exchange ideas about the history and role of cooperatives in the modernisation of agriculture, Royal FloraHolland presents itself as an example of a thriving Dutch cooperative.

Vietnam is one of 17 countries where Agriterra is active. At the start of last year, Director Kees Blokland of Agriterra concluded the agreement with the Vietnamese Cooperative Alliance for the national master plan for cooperative reinforcement. The alliance represents more than 15 thousand agricultural cooperatives and 10 million farmers in Vietnam and takes the lead in radically reforming the cooperative agenda in Vietnam over the next few years.

For more information:
Agriterra
agriterra@agriterra.org
www.agriterra.org