Economic contribution of cooperatives in GDP falls sharply

A report by the Department of Cooperative Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment showed that there were around 101,400 cooperative groups across the country, up 0.58 percent compared to that in 2003, attracting 1.34 million members, up 57.3 percent compared to that in 2003.
A place for preliminary processing of vegetables of Phuoc An Cooperative in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: SGGP)
A place for preliminary processing of vegetables of Phuoc An Cooperative in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: SGGP)

The number of regular labor in cooperative groups was around 1.1 million laborers, an increase of 11.2 percent compared to that in 2003 and average revenue of each cooperative group was at around VND408 million, up 75.7 percent over that in 2003.

As for cooperative model, there were 22,861 cooperatives nationwide with nearly 6 million participants. The number of cooperatives rose by 59 percent over that in 2003 whereas the number of cooperative members tended to decline, dropping by 5.6 percent over that in 2003. 

The number of labor working in cooperative was 1.2 million people, up 14.8 percent over that in 2003. The number of cooperatives which operate effectively tended to increase, accounting for around 57 percent of total number of cooperatives. Average revenue of each cooperative reached VND4.4 billion in 2018, 5.2 times higher than that in 2003. This also caused average income of regular labor in cooperative to rise by 133 percent from VND15.7 million per year in 2003 to VND36.6 million per year in 2018.

Figures by the Ministry of Planning and Investment also showed that contribution proportion of cooperatives in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has been on a sharp downward trend. Particularly, after 15 years from 2003 to 2018, contribution proportion of cooperatives has halved from 7.49 percent to 3.7 percent in GDP.

Meanwhile, contribution proportion to GDP of individual and household businesses still managed to maintain stability, accounting for more than 30 percent of GDP. According to the ministry, in the past 15 years, cooperatives have not developed commensurately with their potentials. 

Many cooperatives and cooperative federation are still in difficult situation with weak internal capacity, inadequate facilities and obsolete technology. In addition, ability and academic standard in cooperative sector remain limited and unable to meet production and business tasks in the market economy condition. 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment held a conference on preparation of the conference to summarize the implementation of the Resolution of the 9th Party Central Committee on renewing, developing and increasing economic efficiency of collective economy after 15 years and the cooperative economic forum 2019 on October 9 in Hanoi. 

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