To give more strengths to rural industries

Recently, Center for Investment, Trade Promotion and Industrial Development (Department of Industry and Trade) has implemented many programs to support rural industry development. Many units benefiting from this industrial promotion program have improved their operational capacity, created good industrial products, and created jobs for many rural laborers.

Many rural industrial establishments are effectively supported through provincial industrial promotion program. In photo: Tan Hiep Phat Garment Cooperative is supported with modern machines for production.

From actual demands

In early June 2018, Tan Hiep Phat Garment Cooperative (Tan Hiep Commune (Tan Hiep Commune, Phu Giao District) was officially launched and put into operation. The establishment of this cooperative aims to create stable jobs, increase incomes for women, contributing to the implementation of criteria for building a new countryside in Tan Hiep commune.

The cooperative has many advantages because there is no industrial park in Tan Hiep commune, 80% of the population lives on agriculture so local labor force is plentiful. On the other hand, before the establishment of this cooperative, the Commune Women's Union cooperated with related units to open many training courses on domestic sewing. As a result, many women after the classes have strong skills to work for the cooperative.

Cooperatives mainly receive orders of school uniforms, uniforms for workers, labor protection costumes done by members of the cooperative at home. Thanks to high skills and compliance with contract times, the cooperative soon earned trust of customers, so the production activities became more stable and developed. In 2018, revenue of the cooperative reached 300 million VND, in 2019 reached about 800 million VND; the average income of each female member is from 5 to 7 million VND per month. Not only women in Tan Hiep commune, there are many women in Phuoc Sang and An Thai communes, who also take orders from the cooperative.

Nguyễn Văn Dũng, Vice Chairman of Tan Hiep Commune People's Committee, said that Tan Hiep Phat Garment Cooperative has been operating efficiently. The establishment of this cooperative is not merely to fulfill the criteria of building new rural areas, but more importantly, to create jobs, increase incomes, develop family economy for many women of the commune. As a result, many women do not have to travel far but still have jobs, while they are able to take care of their families.

However, to increase productivity, expand production capacity, improve product quality to be competitive on the market, the cooperative is facing many difficulties. According to Lương Thị Nhài, Director of the cooperative, the biggest difficulty of the cooperative is investment capital to equip modern machinery and equipment to ensure production and business activities. Meanwhile, most female members are skillful but have difficult circumstances that cannot afford a sewing machine at home, so the cooperative must invest in machines right at the cooperative so that the women can come to do the job.

To timely support

After a training on industrial promotion policies, the cooperative contacted Center for Investment, Trade Promotion and Industrial Development to ask for assistance. After reviewing the current regulations and the needs of this cooperative, the center submitted an estimate budget to Department of Industry and Trade for the project "Supporting the application of machinery and equipment in garment sewing" at Tan Hiep Phat Cooperative (Tan Hiep commune, Phu Giao district). Ms. Nhài said that total budget for this project was over VND 430 million, including VND 200 million from local industrial promotion fund. The cooperative invested in a number of modern machines for production.

“Newly invested machinery and equipment has created a consistent product quality, saved production costs. Currently, we have been active in printing, no longer have to bring our products to Thu Dau Mot City for printing as before”, said Ms. Nhài.

According to Phạm Thanh Dũng, Deputy Director of Center for Investment, Trade Promotion and Industrial Development, this project aims to renovate and replace old and outdated machines, equipment, reduce production costs, outside processing time, thereby decreasing product price, ensuring the production and business activities of the cooperative is stable and developed; at the same time creating regular jobs for local workers, especially idle female workers.

“The effect brought by this project is very practical. Not only synchronizing machinery and equipment of an organization but also contributing to economic restructuring towards industrialization and modernization; enhance competitiveness, encourage the garment industry to develop in line with the provincial industrial promotion program set for the year 2020”, Mr. Dũng said.

In 2019, Department of Industry and Trade appraised and approved 23 programs, plans and schemes, such as: Program to improve management capacity and organize the implementation of industrial promotion works; program supports the development of technical demonstration models; building pilot models on cleaner production application; exemplary rural industrial product program... These are good activities to improve productivity, product quality and production and business efficiency for rural industrial establishments.

Reported by Tri Dung - Translated by Ngoc Huynh