HCM City plans more cooperatives

HCM City (VNA) -The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has devised a plan to establish more business cooperatives, primarily in the trade and service sectors.

The committee said it would conduct research to develop cooperatives in housing,
health care and school sectors.
Another aim will be the merger of small-scale trade and service cooperatives into
unions or larger cooperatives.

Priorities will be given to agricultural service cooperatives, who provide input
materials and purchase products for cooperative members and farmers.

Agricultural service cooperatives are located mostly in the city's outlying
districts of 9, 12, Go Vap, Thu Duc, Binh Tan, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Nha Be and Can Gio.

At the end of last year, the city had nearly 500 cooperatives with a total of 60,000
members, operating in various sectors, including trade, services, agriculture and
transport.

The cooperatives, with at least seven members each as mandated, provide jobs for an
additional 40,000 labourers.

The city also has 3,600 cooperative teams which have at least three members each.

This year the city has targeted a growth rate for the cooperative sector of 9
percent and aims to have members earning a profit of 15 percent of their capital
contributed to the cooperative.

The city also aims to raise the annual average income of labourers working at
cooperatives this year to 19.2 million VND (1,100 USD).

The city will provide professional training for 1,000 people who manage cooperatives.

It will also help cooperatives promote their products, apply and upgrade their
production technologies.-Enditem