Vietnam’s Cooperative Alliance Re-elects Its Chair as It Charts a Course to 2031

Nearly 500 delegates gathered in Hanoi on 24 and 25 August for the 7th National Congress of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA), setting direction for the country’s collective economic sector for the 2026–2031 term. Held at the Vietnam-Soviet Friendship Labour Culture Palace, the Congress came after all 34 provincial and municipal cooperative alliances across the country successfully completed their own term congresses in the lead-up, several marking the occasion with new development projects and support programmes of their own.

Opening the Congress, VCA Chairperson Ms. Cao Xuân Thu Vân situated the moment squarely in Vietnam’s broader push on science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition and international integration. Eighty years on from the cooperative movement’s founding in the country, she noted, its core value hasn’t shifted: uniting small, scattered resources into collective strength, cutting costs and lifting production efficiency for members who couldn’t achieve the same alone. The Congress, she added, carried a dual mandate — reviewing the outgoing term’s work while setting a five-year direction focused on raising the quality, efficiency and competitiveness of Vietnam’s collective economy.

The Congress opened on 24 August with an awards ceremony recognising 13 cooperatives through the “Innovative Cooperative” competition, honouring models that stood out for innovation in production, business and governance, technology adoption, digital transformation, value chain development, and green and circular economy practices — a fitting curtain-raiser for a Congress built around modernising the sector.

At the first meeting of the newly formed Executive Committee, Ms. Vân was re-elected as VCA’s Chairperson  for the 2026–2031 term. Ms. Nguyễn Thị Hoài Linh and Mr. Đinh Hồng Thái were elected Vice Chairs, with Ms. Nguyễn Thị Hoài Linh also taking on the role of Head of the Inspection Committee, and Mr. Phạm Minh Sơn appointed Deputy Head of the Inspection Committee.

With a new leadership team now in place and a term-long agenda built around digital and green transformation, Vietnam’s cooperative movement heads into its next five years with a clear brief: prove that century-old cooperative principles can keep pace with the country’s fastest-moving economic priorities.