Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh (the middle) and the participants at the event. (Photo: CPV)
In her opening speech at the event, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh said with the position and strength of 30 years of innovation, it is the time for Vietnam to make more practical contributions to cooperatives in the region and benefits for the people.
“International Co-operative Alliance – Asia Pacific (ICA-AP) needs to innovate to confirm its role of bridging, linking and assisting cooperative economy in the region to develop more actively. ICA-AP should focus on solving current urgent problems through boosting cooperation with long-term vision,” she insisted.
Themed “The Vision Ahead to 2030: Promoting Stronger Partnerships between Governments and Co-operative Stakeholders in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals”, the four-day conference will include seven sessions featuring various topics.
It will also focus on realizing actions of countries in the region to effectively carry out 17 global goals on sustainable development by 2030.
Specifically, on April 18th, the first fair displaying farm produce and handicrafts of Vietnamese cooperatives, cooperative alliances and enterprises was held at Thong Nhat Park. It convened nearly 300 booths of 100 domestic units and three booths of cooperatives and cooperative alliances of Asia Pacific countries.
This provides a good chance for Vietnamese cooperatives and businesses to introduce high-quality farm produce and handicrafts to international friends while seeking potential trade partners, he added.
Currently, Vietnam has more than 150,000 cooperative groups, 20,000 cooperatives and 50 cooperative unions, with nearly 30 million members working on a wide range of economic sectors, such as agriculture, transport, construction and trade./.