Cooperative alliance, ILO work to boost employment, poverty reduction

The MoU is on building and effectively implementing strategies to promote employment and eliminate poverty, support the transfer of labour in the informal sector, and develop a sustainable and inclusive economy and business climate. 

It was signed by VCA Chairman Vo Kim Cu and ILO Country Director Chang Hee Lee in Hanoi on May 27. 

Chang Hee Lee said the MoU signing is an important step to foster employment, income growth and poverty reduction, especially in remote and rural areas of Vietnam. 

Despite strong growth over the last few years, some regions in Vietnam, particularly remote and rural areas, still record high poverty rates. The cooperation between the VCA, which has 13 million members, and the ILO is important to addressing that problem, he noted. 

The same day, the VCA chairman and Antje Regitz, a programme director of the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV), signed another MoU on comprehensive cooperation – partnership. 

Accordingly, DGRV will give advice to and help improve the capacity of the VCA and other partner organisations in building an institutional framework that is strong enough for the sustainable development of cooperatives in Vietnam.