At least three individuals aged full 18 years and having full civil act capacity may contribute their assets and labor to founding a cooperative group on the basis of a cooperative contract certified by the commune-level People’s Committee.
Cooperative groups, defined in Government Decree No. 151/2007/ND-CP of October 10, as a kind of voluntary association of citizens for shared benefits and joint liabilities, operate on democratic and mutual benefit principles, enjoy financial autonomy, self-finance their operations and discharge their liabilities with their own and their members’ assets.
Cooperative group members have equal rights to decide on affairs and operations of their cooperative groups, regardless of their asset contribution proportions. When leaving cooperative groups, members may claim back their contributed assets and demand their divided shares of groups’ common assets.
The management and use of cooperative groups’ assets are based on agreements among members, who also know and supervise the financial status of their groups.
Cooperative groups may choose any production or business lines not banned by law; directly export and import goods; enter into joint ventures with organizations and individuals at home or abroad in order to expand their production or business; enjoy State supports and take part in local socio-economic development projects and programs; enter into civil contracts; and open their own bank accounts.
Decree No. 151/2007/ND-CP, the first governmental-level document providing for organization and operation of cooperative groups, reaffirms the necessary existence and important role of cooperative groups in national socio-economic development as their operation model consistently proves advantageous and suitable to actual labor supply and production organization conditions of localities, especially rural and mountainous areas.-