Joint work between ONA and HSF on the Cooperative Law
Hybrid multistakeholder dialogue on "Legal regulations on cooperatives: facts and recommendations”

Opening remark of Mr. Michael Siegner, Resident Representative of HSF Vietnam

HSF

The National Assembly passed the 2012 Law on Cooperatives on November 20, 2012, and it became active on July 1, 2013. After ten years of implementation, the law, according to Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, vice-chairman of the Office of the National Assembly, has established strong fundamental legal frameworks that have a positive impact on the growth of the collective economy and cooperatives in a variety of ways. However, in addition to the achieved results, the Law has revealed a number of shortcomings and limitations that must be studied and revised to meet the needs of society. Against this background, the Office of the National Assembly (ONA) in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) in Vietnam organized a multistakeholder dialogue in Can Tho to provide important inputs for the NA deputies to contribute to the project of revising the Cooperatives Law in the upcoming 4th Session of the 15th NA.

At the dialogue, more than 140 representatives from the ONA, the Standing Committee on Economics of the NA, relevant ministries and line-ministries, deputies of provinces in southern Vietnam, representatives of cooperatives and cooperative associations, research institutes in Vietnam and abroad, and international organizations gathered together in Can Tho and online via Zoom to discuss policy solutions for managing and developing cooperatives in Vietnam. Speakers and participants presented and discussed the status quo as well as the inadequacies of the current legal framework for the regulation of cooperatives in Vietnam - particularly in the context of digital transformation and circular economy. The workshop also provided the experts with a platform to discuss some specific regulations and policies of the draft Cooperatives Law (revised), to share international experiences, and to give recommendations for improving Vietnam’s legal framework on cooperatives.