Canada and Vietnam partner to enhance and strengthen Vietnam’s co-operative sector
November 18, 2022 – Calgary Alberta (Canada) – Alinea International. Canada and Vietnam are continuing their partnership to enhance and strengthen Vietnam’s co-operative sector with the signing of a letter of agreement between Canada’s Alinea International and Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). This letter outlines an ambitious initiative that will bring together experts from Canada and Vietnam, MPI officials, its legal drafting team, co-operatives and other stakeholders to collaboratively redraft Vietnam’s decade-old co-operative law. The intent is to leverage Canada’s rich co-op experience and expertise to more fully develop amendments related to co-operative federations and internal transactions – emergent hot topics during this round of revisions to the law.
“Canada has actively supported Vietnam to develop the cooperative sector over the past two decades. This technical assistance project is a solid example of how Canada and Vietnam work together to match Canadian expertise to Vietnamese priorities to develop a quality and inclusive Law on Cooperatives to advance development and poverty reduction efforts.”
-Shawn Steil, Ambassador of Canada to Vietnam
Co-operatives are jointly owned businesses or enterprises where members come together to pool their resources to purchase, do work and/or distribute, market goods or services. They allow very small enterprises access to a wide range of economies of scale benefits that would otherwise be beyond their reach. Vietnam and Canada recognize the important potential co-operatives have to bringing about social and economic development for small businesses, farmers and entrepreneurs. Co-operatives were a key factor in the development of Canada’s economy, including building a strong and resilient agriculture sector.
The letter was signed by MPI’s Director General Chi and Alinea’s President Mr. Robert Francis and will launch a range of collaborative activities. The initiative will address two areas: the new concept of coop federations and a long-term issues surrounding the treatment of internal transactions by coops. Through consultations and workshops with stakeholders from the government, civil society and co-operatives, the initiative will review these issues from 360 degrees with the objective of providing relevant and practical recommendations for amendments to the 2012 Co-op Law. Engagement will be diverse with clear steps to ensure the participation of women and/or youth led/dominated co-ops and other identity groups.
“TAP is pleased to be invited to participate in the legislative process in Vietnam – working side-by-side with the Ministry of Planning and Investment drafting team, technical leads and other government stakeholders to revise the 2012 Law on Co-operatives.”
–Guy Innes, TAP Project Manager & Senior Director at Alinea
Funding support for two Canadian and two Vietnamese experts along with regional and national workshops and consultations is being provided by the Government of Canada through Global Affairs Canada’s Technical Assistance Partnership Expert Deployment Mechanism or TAP Project.
The TAP Project contributes to poverty reduction in ODA-eligible countries by enhancing the capacity of national-level institutions to manage policies and practices in a more gender-responsive and inclusive way; promoting social, political and economic opportunities in partner countries; and increasing awareness and engagement of Canadians as partners and global citizens in support of Canada’s international assistance efforts. The implementing agency for TAP is Alinea International.
For more information, please contact Gabrielle Lepage, Communications and Public Engagement Manager, TAP-EDM, Alinea International at [email protected].
