Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said the Vietnamese agricultural industry needed to take advantage of external forces so as not to be left behind.

Attending the International Conference on High-Efficiency Agriculture in Vietnam on Sunday, the minister said: “It is a space for stakeholders to exchange and learn more from leading experts in the field of agriculture.

Held under the auspices of the Committee on Overseas Vietnamese and the National Innovation Center of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (NIC), the conference was the first session in a series of events.

With the catalyst being the strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development for the 2021-30 period, approved by the Prime Minister in February, Hoan welcomed experts to join the discussion in order to provide synchronous and timely solutions to global problems such as epidemics, climate change, or changes in consumption trends.

He said: "The agriculture industry must keep pace with the Industry 4.0 technology. We have a lot of potential and ambition, but we need to solve each individual problem first, before coming up with a master plan."

Hoan said domestic resources and budget were limited so, in order for the agricultural industry not to be left behind, domestic management agencies, businesses and households need forums like these to connect with their counterparts around the world and to take advantage of the accumulated values ​​from good practices.

The MARD leader announced that the ministry has coordinated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related parties to successfully organise the forum to connect overseas businesses to the industry earlier this year adding it attracted foreign investors and enhance trade exchanges.

Hoan hoped the knowledge from the conference will soon come to local fields and help the farmers.

Mentioning the Vietnamese commitment to "zero carbon emissions" at COP26, Hoan said sustainable production-driven agriculture needed to transform with new thoughts and knowledge.

The minister told the conference: "It's time to take the market standard for agricultural production instead of taking production to shape the market.”

Attending the conference, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said agriculture played a very important role in the Vietnamese economy, especially in the context of the pandemic, when the agricultural sector could prove its value in ensuring social security.

Phuong said the conference was a concrete and substantive connection activity between experts, managers and businesses to promote cooperation, share knowledge, and expand business opportunities in the field of agriculture, especially smart agriculture.

As effectively supporting agricultural enterprises was among six key tasks set out by the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, Phuong said the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) was working on connecting domestic and international experts, along with the support and companionship of MARD, adding they were creating a Creative Agricultural Development Center Project for the matter.

Together with NIC, the conference was also in collaboration with innovation networks in Australia, Europe, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan (China).

"Especially with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this is a positive first step to connect knowledge resources, contributing to promoting Vietnamese agriculture to proactively approach solutions, technologies and agricultural techniques of advanced industry of countries around the world."

According to MARD, the strategy for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development for the 2021-30 period, with a vision to 2050, was the first time that Viet Nam's agriculture sector has a long-term strategy that integrates both agriculture and rural areas.

The strategy aims to solve the internal problems of Viet Nam's agriculture in the face of global changes such as climate change, market dynamics, integrating the value of the fourth industrial revolution between knowledge agriculture and smart agriculture.

Experts at the conference provided information on new technologies in agriculture as well as introduced investment opportunities and market expansion of foreign enterprises into Viet Nam and of Vietnamese enterprises to the international market. — VNS