Hanoi (VNA) – A support centre forcooperative development was opened in Hanoi on December 6, aiming to help Vietnamesecooperatives get more involved in agricultural value chains.

The centre was set up by the Vietnam CooperativeUnion for Agricultural Consumption (UCA).

Its director Nguyen The Phuong said the centrewill help cooperatives join sustainable value chains.

UCA Chairman Pham Anh Tuan said Vietnam has beenstrongly integrating into the global economy, which will bring about bothopportunities and challenges, especially in agriculture.

Notably, the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) will take effect in January2019. Vietnam will have several years to prepare to export farm produce tomajor markets and brace for challenges posed by the competition of productsfrom other CPTPP members, including Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Vietnamese goods have to meet the othercountries’ standards while being safe and cheaper than agricultural products ofother signatories, or they will lose in the domestic market.

To do that, it is necessary to boost landaccumulation, mass production and high-tech application to improve quality andlabour productivity and reduce production costs, Tuan said.

He noted the UCA, founded more than two yearsago, still has to do much more to contribute to Vietnam’s agriculture.

According to the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance,cooperative groups and cooperatives make up nearly 4.8 percent of the country’sGDP. There were 21,026 active cooperatives as of June 30 this year, up 934against the previous year. More than half of these were in agriculture or agriculturalservice.

Vietnam wants at least 15,000 agriculturalcooperatives and cooperative unions operating effectively by 2020.-VNA