State credit institutions will offer enterprises developing national agricultural products 70 per cent of investment capital support, said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

MPI has finalised a draft decree on policies encouraging enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas to submit to the Prime Minister, saying that one of the main points of the draft is supporting the development of national key agricultural products.

The support capital will not exceed VND8 billion (US$351,000) per project, focusing on assisting firms in infrastructure development including transportation, electricity, water, factories and equipment.

The projects eligible for the support must satisfy certain regulations. For coffee processing projects, the minimum processing capacity must be 2,000 tonnes per year for wet coffee, 20,000 tonnes per year for coffee beans using drying method, 4,000 tonnes per year for coffee powder or instant coffee.

For rice, the minimum processing capacity is 50,000 tonnes per year for regular white rice products and 3,000 tonnes per year for premium white rice products, whose export prices are one and a half times higher than regular products.

The figure is 1,000 tonnes of per year for pepper, 5,000 tonnes per year for cashew nut, 10,000 tonnes per year for vegetables and fruits (including canned vegetables and fruits).

For aquatic and marine products, the minimum capacity is 1,000 tonnes per year for shrimp and 5,000 tonnes per year for pangasius and other seafood.

Projects that provide seeds for key agricultural products will also receive 70 per cent investment capital support, with a maximum level of VND2 billion per project.

The MPI will also focus on supporting projects that process wood exploited from plantation forests, it said.

According to MPI’s plan, enterprises processing wood harvested from plantation forests or bamboo processing in the northwest provinces, the Central Highlands provinces or provinces with poor districts, as regulated in the Government Resolution No 30a/2008/NQ-CP dated December 27, 2008, will be supported by the State budget.

Firms producing MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard) wood with capacity of at least 30,000cu.m per year or those who have plywood factory with capacity of at least 100,000cu.m will be given a financial aid worth VND20 billion per factory.

Businesses who process particle board, bamboo and industrial laminated wood with minimum capacity of 20,000cu.m will receive capital of VND10 billion per factory. — VNS