Farming products in a Coopmart supermarket. Viet Nam expects to develop 80,000 to 100,000 businesses having effective investment in the agricultural sector. — Photo sggp.org.vn
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc wants Viet Nam to become one of the world's top farming nations in the next decade, according to a Government's resolution issued recently.
"In the next 10 years, Viet Nam must be among the top 15 countries with the most developed agriculture in the world, with the domestic agricultural processing industry standing at the top 10 in the world,” the PM said in a resolution published on the Government's news website chinhphu.vn.
He said "Agriculture is one of three key economic sectors that Viet Nam needs to focus on developing, besides information technology and tourism".
Viet Nam would be a global farming deep-processing centre and a logistics centre of the global agricultural trade, he said.
He said the key was developing enterprises investing in agriculture and a good legal system.
To that end, the Government wants 80,000 to 100,000 businesses having effective investment in agriculture by 2030.
Officials expect growth of 3 per cent per year in farming, forestry and fishery production value and 6-8 per cent in farming, forestry and fishery export value by 2030.
To achieve these goals, the Government has issued a resolution on tasks to improve institutions, reform administrative procedures, reduce barriers to business in agriculture and improve State management.
According to Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, the agricultural sector has recorded great achievements in recent years.
However Viet Nam's economic productivity is still low mainly due to small scale agricultural production. In addition, the local farming sector faces fierce competition in the global market.
The minister said his ministry would continue to improve institutions and focus on administrative reforms.
The industry would restructure the agricultural sector and develop production structure according to key groups of farming products.
Key products needed to develop under value chains, prioritising products with export potential such as forest, seafood, rice and fruit, Cuong said.
The Government needed to complete institutions, reform administrative procedures and remove difficulties for businesses and farmers, he said.
This would help millions of farming households connect with businesses, creating close ties between production and processing, he said.
The State should create the best conditions for large-scale agricultural production, the mechanisation of agricultural production and use of high technology in agriculture.
It should also have policies to draw investment in developing the agriculture and rural infrastructure and support services for agriculture.
Currently, many large businesses have developed projects in the agricultural sector, including 50,000 businesses investing in production, processing and consumption of farming products and providing services for agriculture.
However, few businesses are in production chains and only 5 per cent of the businesses have achieved VietGAP certificates. — VNS