Vietnam and Malaysia will strengthen bilateral cooperation in developing the cooperative movement on an equal and mutually beneficial basis.

To this effect, a memorandum of arrangement (MoA) was signed by representatives from t he Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on September 26.

Under the MoA, the two countries will boost trade between their cooperatives through import-export activities or joint venture projects as well as expand markets for cooperatives’ products and services.

They will promote the exchange of information and experts, and organise training courses to improve the capacity of cooperative managers.

The two sides have decided to set up a joint working group to realise the MoA.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, MDTCC Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob affirmed that cooperatives are one of the important sectors which greatly contribute to the economic development of countries, including Malaysia and Vietnam .

MPI Deputy Minister Dang Huy Dong expressed his belief that the MoA will play an important role in the development of the cooperative movement in each country.

Vietnam now has about 19,500 agricultural and non-agricultural cooperatives.-VNA