Provincial Cooperative Support Fund working with Bac Kan ward People's Committee on managing preferential loan funds for collective economy development

The Fund performs the function of extending preferential loans to cooperative unions, cooperatives, cooperative groups and their members throughout the province. In implementation of the Scheme for collective economy development in Thai Nguyen province for the 2021 - 2025 period, the Fund received an additional VND 40 billion in charter capital from the Provincial People's Committee, raising its total pre-merger operating capital to over VND 84 billion. Following the merger, the Fund's total charter capital reached over VND 96 billion.

Cooperative Support Fund resources prioritized for units producing key local products and OCOP (One Commune One Product) products (In the photo: Production activities at Vo Nhai Agricultural Cooperative)

Since 2021, the Fund has signed preferential loan agreements for 622 projects and business production plans of cooperatives, cooperative groups and their members across the province, with total lending turnover reaching over VND 313 billion. Of this total, the non-agricultural sector accounts for nearly VND 105 billion (34%), while the agricultural sector accounts for over VND 208 billion (66%) of total outstanding loans.

Preferential capital from the Provincial Cooperative Development Support Fund helps many cooperatives expand production and improve product quality. (In the photo: Arrowroot vermicelli packaging at Tai Hoan Cooperative)

The Fund's capital is prioritized to support cooperatives and cooperative groups in communes implementing new rural development and model new rural programs, as well as producers of key local and OCOP products. As a result, many cooperatives and cooperative groups have been able to scale up production and improve product quality and design.

In practice, cooperatives and cooperative groups that have accessed the Fund's capital have consistently used it for the intended purposes, contributing to improved business efficiency, job creation and increased income for members and workers. In this way, the Fund has played an important role in building model new-style cooperatives and in fulfilling the criteria for new rural area construction across Thai Nguyen province.