Comments on the draft revised Law on Cooperatives

Comrades: Le Van Nghi, Vice President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance; Phung Quoc Chi, Director of the Department of Cooperative Development, Ministry of Planning and Investment; Vu Chi Giang, Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee chaired the discussion. Also attending were representatives of leaders of a number of departments, branches, and sectors; leaders of the Cooperative Alliance of 11 northern provinces and cities.

The draft revised Law on Cooperatives consists of 15 chapters and 120 articles, aiming to create a clear legal corridor, eliminate regulations that hinder market entry and member development; have high feasibility in practice, create favorable conditions for the collective economy and cooperatives to develop dynamically, effectively and sustainably. At the same time, it creates an important foundation for people to increase their income, improve their quality of life, and contribute to social progress and justice.

Giving opinions on the draft revised Law on Cooperatives, delegates highly agreed on the need to amend and promulgate new contents of some chapters and articles, because in reality, after nearly 10 years of coming into force, the 2012 Law on Cooperatives has revealed some shortcomings and limitations such as: Some provisions of the 2012 Law on Cooperatives still overlap and are not consistent with other legal documents; provisions on basic principles of cooperatives are not consistent with the reality and development trends of the world, hindering the development of cooperatives and cooperative unions. The number of cooperatives benefiting from this law is still small and cooperatives face difficulties in accessing preferential support policies of the State. Many small-scale cooperatives have not proactively linked and united to create competitive advantages…

Many delegates proposed to change the name of the Law on Cooperatives to the Law on Cooperative Economic Organizations to suit the subjects of application, scope of regulation and design of the draft Law’s content, at the same time, adjust the structure of the Law in the direction of reducing one article, ensuring the strictness and clarity of the functions of cooperative groups, cooperative federations, and cooperative economic groups according to the legal framework… Along with that, there are clear regulations on the minimum number of cooperatives, cooperative unions, cooperative federations, and cooperative economic groups; appropriate mechanisms and policies for all cooperatives to access and enjoy preferential policies and support from the State. Clearly define the management responsibilities of state management agencies at all levels for the collective economic sector and cooperatives. Research and consider reducing procedures and registration processes for cooperative economic organizations.

Speaking at the seminar, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Vu Chi Giang requested the drafting committee of the draft resolution to study and clarify the issue of why the 2012 Law on Cooperatives must be amended, thereby proposing appropriate mechanisms, policies and solutions to improve the capacity and operational efficiency of cooperatives. Along with that, it is necessary to clearly point out the new things, opportunities, and retail markets of cooperatives in the context of integration; have mechanisms for all cooperatives to easily access credit for development. Have specific regulations on capital contribution ratio, management capacity, membership scale, operating mechanism, applied technology and eliminate barriers and cumbersome regulations affecting the operation of cooperatives.

Receiving the opinions of delegates at the Seminar, Vice President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance Le Van Nghi said that the goal of building the revised Law on Cooperatives is to be comprehensive, targeting people working in the agricultural and service sectors with few businesses investing, contributing to promoting economic development in disadvantaged areas and sectors in order to exploit potential and improve people’s lives.

In order for the Law to be promulgated and put into practice soon, comrade Le Van Nghi requested the drafting committee of the revised Law on Cooperatives to absorb the opinions of delegates, clarify the content of the Law, remove obstructive regulations, help cooperatives operate more and more effectively, ensure and promote the characteristics and basic principles of cooperatives in the market economy./.