SOCODEVI, a Canadian non-profit international development organisation, has pledged to assist the southern province of Tien Giang in implementing a programme to further economic efficiency of cooperatives in the locality for the 2013-2017 period.

The programme is expected to promote socio-economic development, while enhancing management capacity for the local agricultural cooperative union and agricultural cooperatives operating in the locality.

It aims to increase both quantity and quality of services provided for members of cooperatives and enhance the effectiveness of production and business to meet the demand of members. In addition, the programme will also pay attention to protecting the environment and gender equality.

In the framework of the programme, SOCODEVI will organise training courses for staff of the cooperatives union, thus raising their awareness of the value of cooperatives.

The programme will also provide courses for leaders of cooperatives to better their capacity in managing and applying Performcoop software, a useful tool for managing internal information in cooperatives built by SOCODEVI.

Nguyen Van Hong, President of the provincial Cooperative Alliance, said the programme will help raise the position and role of cooperative movements in Tien Giang, thus contributing to effectively implementing the National Target Programme on New Rural Development.

Over the 2007-2012 period, SOCODEVI also supported Tien Giang Cooperative Alliance in deploying a similar project in the locality.-VNA