The event was attended by Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Cong, representatives of some departments, agencies, districts and Son La city, and 27 outstanding collectives in the cooperative movement.

The participants reviewed the 78-year path of Vietnam’s cooperative movement, and celebrated the 13th anniversary of Vietnam Cooperative Day.

They also highlighted achievements the provincial Cooperative Alliance has gained in giving consultations to the province in encouraging and guiding farmers to form new cooperatives or shifting towards the new cooperative model under the 2012 Cooperative Law, as well as emulation movements on reforming, developing and raising the operational efficiency of cooperatives and cooperative unions, and promoting cooperatives’ role in poverty reduction and new-style rural area building.

The province now is home to 871 cooperatives and six cooperative unions in operation, with over 10,000 members and labourers.

The cooperatives have contributed to boosting production and business in all fields, especially agricultural and rural development, and high-tech agriculture, maintaining safe agricultural and aquatic product supply chains, and improving product quality to serve both the domestic market and exports.

Launched by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) Standing Committee, the action month for cooperatives in 2024 takes the theme of "For the sustainable development of cooperatives", with a range of activities like communications, the first national cooperation forum, and national trade promotion activities, associated with the Vietnam - Bac Lieu salt festival.

In Son La province, there will be various activities like ceremonies to praise role models, a contest for communications workers, connectivity between collective economic organisations and other economic sectors, and the signing of coordination programmes between the provincial Cooperative Alliance and local socio-political organisations in collective economic development in agriculture.

In his remarks, the Vice Chairman asked the provincial Cooperative Alliance to continue gathering officials and encouraging them to raise proposals, and optimising mechanisms and policies to fulfill its assigned tasks.

He also urged more innovations and creativity from its members to raise product quality and value.

Departments and agencies should further coordinate with the alliance and facilitate its operation, as well as the development of collective economic models and cooperatives, thus contributing to local socio-economic development, the official said.

On this occasion, the VCA presented the certificate of merit to the Muong Tac Agricultural Service Cooperative in Phu Yen district. The provincial alliance also presented such certificates to 26 cooperatives in recognition of their outstanding achievements in collective economic development and cooperative movement in 2023.