Improve the capacity and efficiency of cooperative operations

Create conditions for cooperatives to learn from experience

Recently, the Provincial Cooperative Union organized a study tour to effectively operate cooperatives for the management teams of more than 20 cooperatives in the province. Accordingly, the management teams of cooperatives will visit and learn from the experiences of Phuong Di Bee Honey Cooperative (Pleiku City); Phuong Hoang Construction-Trade and Service Cooperative (Duc Co District); Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative (Phu Thien District) ...

Phuong Di Bee Honey Cooperative regularly participates in trade promotions to promote honey products. Photo: Thao Nguyen

Here, the management team of the cooperatives not only visited the actual production process but also learned about the organizational structure of the cooperatives operating effectively and shared the difficulties, challenges and solutions to help the cooperatives produce and do business effectively. At the same time, they learned experiences in finding markets, product outputs, building brands, building OCOP products; experiences in developing cooperatives producing and doing business associated with the value chain...

Ms. Tran Thi Hoang Anh - Director of Phuong Di Bee Honey Cooperative - said: Currently, the Cooperative is cooperating with many units inside and outside the province to provide products because the demand for honey in the country and for export is very large. During the operation, the Cooperative always guides members on the beekeeping process, the process of caring for bee colonies to avoid contamination with antibiotics and pesticides.

“I am willing to share my secret to success with cooperatives who come here to visit and learn from our experience. For our cooperative, to be successful, the products must be of good quality, attractive in design, and ensure food hygiene and safety. That is a secret that anyone can do…”- Ms. Hoang Anh shared.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Nghia - Director of Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative said: Since 2019, the Cooperative has been selected by Phu Thien district as a pilot in the province's cooperative development activities. Up to now, the Cooperative has had 13 rice products meeting OCOP standards from 3-4 stars. When the Cooperatives came here to visit and study, I shared my experience in taking advantage of the policies and guidelines of the Party, the State and projects for the Cooperatives to propose to participate. At the same time, I shared the project establishment processes in accordance with regulations; decentralization and zoning for the Cooperative members to follow the correct processes, from production to business activities...

Scene of the financial-accounting training session for the cooperative management team. Photo: Le Thu

Participating in this study tour, Ms. Truong Thi Chi - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Tan Hoi Agricultural, Forestry and Service Cooperative (Dak Po district) expressed: The cooperative was established 3 years ago, mainly producing chili with an area of ​​over 200 hectares. Participating in this study tour, I hope to learn how to develop the consumption market to have a stable output for the products. In addition, I also learned how Chu A Thai Cooperative maintains good links with farmers to increase the value of rice.

“With what I have learned, I will apply it to my cooperative's activities in the coming time to work with cooperative members and farmers to create the best products to supply to the market,” said Ms. Chi.

In addition to creating conditions for learning practical experience, the Provincial Cooperative Union also focuses on training and fostering professional knowledge for cooperative management staff, especially in the field of finance and accounting.

Mr. Luong Dinh Trong - Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union - said: "Through understanding the activities of cooperatives, cooperatives currently still have some shortcomings and limitations, especially in financial and accounting management. Many cooperative staff have not been properly trained, the preparation of books and financial reports is slow or not in accordance with regulations. To overcome this, we organize training courses on financial and accounting operations, update the latest regulations so that the cooperative management team can grasp and comply with legal regulations".

Ms. Seo, a member of the Board of Directors of Glar Agricultural and Brocade Weaving Cooperative (Dak Doa), said: “Previously, I had difficulty preparing financial reports because I did not fully understand and update new documents in a timely manner. Participating in training courses helped me understand and properly implement the regulations, thereby being able to prepare financial reports myself, improving the operational efficiency of the cooperative.”

Towards sustainable development

Gia Lai currently has 488 cooperatives with more than 19,000 members, creating jobs for nearly 2,000 local workers. Of these, 389 cooperatives operate in the agricultural sector; 13 cooperatives operate in the industrial and handicraft sector; 40 cooperatives operate in the transportation sector; 14 cooperatives operate in the construction sector; 26 commercial cooperatives and 6 People's Credit Funds. Cooperatives are increasingly diversifying their production and business models, contributing to the stable operation of the collective economic sector in the province, continuing to affirm their important role in economic development, job creation, and income increase for workers.

Cooperatives invest in modern machinery to improve product quality. Photo: Thao Nguyen

Mr. Nguyen Mau Phong - Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union - informed: According to the direction of the Provincial People's Committee, the Provincial Cooperative Union has developed a plan and selected cooperatives that wish to visit and learn from experiences at effectively operating cooperatives to apply to their operations to improve the management capacity and operational efficiency of the cooperatives. During this trip, there are 4 learning contents, including: Learning from the production stage to the value chain; exchanging experiences and methods of building OCOP products, building brands so that the cooperative's products have stable output; ways to apply science and technology to production. Finally, for cooperatives to exchange experiences on joint ventures and associations between cooperatives and households to create value chains to improve the lives of members and the production and business activities of cooperatives.

Over the years, the activities of cooperatives have always received attention and support from authorities at all levels through policies on land, credit loans, value chain linkage, processing and product consumption, etc. However, the most important issue at present is to improve the quality of the leadership team as well as the professional labor force of cooperatives. Therefore, organizing tours, learning experiences and opening training courses, updating knowledge, and improving financial management capacity for cooperative managers is extremely necessary, which is the key factor to help cooperatives operate effectively.

Mr. Nguyen Mau Phong - Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union added: In addition to support policies, the management staff of cooperatives also need to improve the spirit of self-study and self-improvement to improve their qualifications and capacity, gradually overcome difficulties in production, business, financial management as well as have a plan to build a successor team. From there, improve the quality of the cooperative management team, contributing to promoting effective operation of cooperatives in the province, gradually developing sustainably.

“The activities supporting cooperatives in recent times have created a favorable environment, opening up many development opportunities for the collective economic sector. In the coming time, the Provincial Cooperative Union will continue to strengthen the organization of specialized training courses, and at the same time expand the contents such as: online marketing, business administration, digital transformation... to gradually modernize the activities of cooperatives in the province" - the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union emphasized.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nang-cao-nang-luc-va-hieu-qua-hoat-dong-cua-hop-tac-xa-post324474.html