Effective implementation of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives requires not only dissemination of its provisions but also practical guidance and support mechanisms tailored to cooperatives’ operating conditions. A 2025 field survey conducted by Phung Giang Hai, Hoang Minh Huy, Vu Thi Thu Giang, and Nguyen Thi My across six localities identified challenges in applying six groups of new provisions and assessed support needs relating to legal compliance, governance, financial management, and operational arrangements. The findings provide an empirical basis for refining implementation guidance and developing support measures that better address the needs of agricultural cooperatives in Viet Nam.
The 2023 Law on Cooperatives sets more specific governance requirements
The cooperative economy and agricultural cooperatives play an important role in organizing production, providing services, and linking stakeholders across the agricultural sector. In addition to production conditions and market access, effective cooperative development depends on governance capacity, financial transparency, and mechanisms to protect members’ rights and interests. These issues warrant attention in efforts to improve the institutional framework and strengthen cooperative performance.
Law on Cooperatives No. 17/2023/QH15 was adopted by Viet Nam’s National Assembly on June 20, 2023, and entered into force on July 1, 2024, establishing a new legal framework for the organization and operation of cooperatives. In their study, Phung Giang Hai and coauthors examine six groups of provisions directly relevant to agricultural cooperative governance: membership; assets and finance; internal transactions; internal lending; internal control; and enterprises established by cooperatives.
These provisions affect multiple aspects of cooperative operations. Member classification helps determine members’ rights and obligations, while asset and financial management involves the responsible use and disclosure of resources. Provisions governing internal transactions, internal control, and enterprises established by cooperatives establish more specific requirements for accounting, oversight, and business organization. Internal lending, meanwhile, requires cooperatives to understand the applicable legal conditions and establish appropriate management and risk-control procedures.
To assess the implementation of these provisions, the researchers surveyed agricultural cooperatives representing five areas of activity across six localities: Son La, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Lam Dong, Dong Nai, and Dong Thap. The study collected information from 600 cooperative members and 18 government officials and experts, combining field surveys with the compilation and analysis of relevant information and data.
This approach enabled the researchers to examine implementation in light of cooperatives’ actual operating conditions rather than focusing solely on the interpretation of legal texts. It also helped identify areas requiring more detailed guidance and capacities that need to be strengthened to ensure that the new provisions can be appropriately applied in practice.
Implementation challenges extend beyond dissemination of the Law
The survey findings indicate that dissemination and awareness-raising activities have not necessarily ensured that cooperatives fully understand or can implement the new requirements. Regarding membership provisions, 51.9% of surveyed cooperatives reported having received information about the new rules, while 44.4% still lacked a full understanding of the relevant provisions. Only 19.3% had classified their members in accordance with the new requirements.
These findings highlight the difference between receiving information and applying legal requirements in management practice. Tasks such as determining the rights and obligations of different member categories, managing members’ capital contributions, and maintaining membership records require more detailed guidance than general legal information sessions typically provide.
Difficulties in asset and financial management and internal transactions were evident in the development of internal regulations, recordkeeping, and operational procedures. For example, only 34.2% of surveyed cooperatives separately recorded internal transactions in their accounting records. Without properly identifying and accounting for transactions between cooperatives and their members, cooperatives face difficulties in assessing members’ use of services and distributing benefits in accordance with the Law.
Internal control and business management present additional challenges. Only 31.6% of surveyed cooperatives had established internal control regulations. Meanwhile, none of the surveyed agricultural cooperatives had established an enterprise of their own. These findings point to gaps in organizational and governance capacity as cooperatives consider business arrangements that require more advanced financial management, oversight, and clearly defined responsibilities.
According to the researchers, these challenges do not arise solely from limited understanding of legal provisions. Many cooperatives lack qualified personnel, particularly accountants and controllers, as well as appropriate management tools and templates. Others have insufficient financial resources or governance capacity to introduce new activities. In addition, some provisions intersect with multiple legal instruments and require more detailed guidance to support consistent and practical application.
The task, therefore, is not simply to continue disseminating the Law. Cooperatives also need support in translating legal requirements into workable internal regulations, procedures, and management practices. This provides a basis for identifying the support measures that should be prioritized in subsequent implementation efforts.
Agricultural cooperatives’ support needs center on practical guidance and capacity building
A key contribution of the study is its identification of support needs for each group of provisions, providing an empirical basis for designing appropriate support measures. The identified needs range from clarification of legal requirements to practical guidance and capacity building in cooperative governance and management.
Regarding membership provisions, 80.7% of surveyed cooperatives needed guidance on member classification. In asset and financial management, 74.6% needed guidance on managing indivisible common assets. These findings indicate substantial demand for assistance with matters that directly affect organizational structures, members’ interests, and the management of cooperative resources.
For internal transactions, 76.3% of surveyed cooperatives needed guidance on identifying and managing such transactions. This points to the need for practical methods of recording, tracking, and accounting for transactions that are compatible with cooperatives’ staffing capacities and management systems. Guidance should clarify the requirements and explain how to organize relevant tasks and maintain records for management purposes.
Regarding internal lending, 81.6% of surveyed cooperatives needed guidance on the applicable legal provisions. In addition, 78.9% required training in internal control and cooperative governance. These areas require specialized knowledge and the ability to develop procedures for operational management, monitoring, and risk control. Legal guidance should therefore be complemented by practical instruction and capacity building for personnel directly responsible for implementation.
Demand for guidance on enterprises established by cooperatives was also substantial. A total of 84.2% of surveyed cooperatives needed clarification of the relevant legal provisions. They also expressed a need for support in developing governance models and regulations for enterprises established by cooperatives, strengthening management capacity, and accessing investment capital. These findings suggest that the choice of business model should reflect each cooperative’s size, development plans, and capacity to mobilize resources.
Taken together, the results point to the need for support tailored to specific requirements and existing capacities rather than a uniform approach for all cooperatives. Legal issues call for clear and consistent guidance. Accounting, asset management, and internal control require practical procedures, templates, and skills development. For cooperatives seeking to expand their business activities, appropriate attention should also be given to enterprise governance and the allocation of financial responsibilities.
This approach enables survey findings to inform the prioritization of support needs, the allocation of resources, and the selection of implementation methods suited to actual conditions. It also underscores the importance of treating support for implementation as an ongoing process in which cooperatives’ ability to apply the provisions is a key criterion for assessing effectiveness.
Improving guidance and support for implementation
Based on the challenges and support needs identified through the survey, the researchers propose two main directions for improving implementation of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives. The first is to strengthen legal guidance on the six groups of provisions. The second is to develop practical tools that enable cooperatives to understand and apply the requirements in their day-to-day operations.
To improve the legal framework, the study recommends considering amendments to Decree No. 113/2024/ND-CP to provide more detailed guidance on the six areas, either through a consistent framework for implementation or by assigning relevant ministries and sectors responsibility for issuing specific instructions. The researchers also propose adding provisions specifying how noncompliance by cooperatives should be addressed, thereby establishing a legal basis for promoting implementation.
These recommendations are grounded in the study’s findings. Their significance lies in identifying issues that warrant consideration when refining implementation guidance, particularly those involving technical requirements and multiple areas of regulatory oversight. Clarifying responsibilities, conditions, and procedures could help reduce divergent interpretations and make it easier for cooperatives to organize their operations in accordance with the Law.
Another key recommendation is to develop a practical manual covering important provisions of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives, initially focusing on the six groups examined in the study. The manual should be detailed, accessible, and easy to use, helping cooperatives move beyond awareness of legal requirements to understanding how to implement them. This is one of the solutions explicitly emphasized by the researchers in their conclusions.
The survey findings further suggest that the effectiveness of such a manual will depend on its ability to address the specific tasks cooperatives must perform. Support activities should therefore emphasize the practical application of guidance materials, operational procedures, and accompanying templates, while tailoring training to the capacities of different groups. This implication, drawn from the research findings, highlights the importance of linking legal dissemination with the conditions under which cooperatives implement the requirements.
The study by Phung Giang Hai and coauthors contributes empirical evidence on gaps in the implementation of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives and identifies support needs across six groups of provisions. Its findings can inform efforts to improve legal guidance, develop training programs, and organize support for agricultural cooperatives.
In the longer term, effective implementation of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives will depend not only on the adequacy of its provisions but also on the capacity of cooperatives to apply them. When support measures are designed around actual needs, cooperatives will be better positioned to strengthen governance, improve transparency in resource management, and organize their activities in accordance with the legal framework. This approach is relevant to the broader development of Viet Nam’s cooperative economy and efforts to improve the performance of agricultural cooperatives.
Sources: This article is based on the study “Agricultural cooperatives in Viet Nam and demands for support in the application of the 2023 Cooperative Law” by Phung Giang Hai, Hoang Minh Huy, Vu Thi Thu Giang, and Nguyen Thi My, published in the Science Journal of Agriculture and Environment, Issue 2, July 2026.
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