Hanoi (VNA) - State credit institutions will offer enterprises developingnational agricultural products 70 percent of investment capital, said theMinistry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

MPI has finalised a draft decree on policies encouraging enterprises to investin agriculture and rural areas to submit to the Prime Minister, saying that oneof the main points of the draft is supporting the development of national keyagricultural products.

The support capital will not exceed 8 billion VND (351,000 USD) per project,focusing on assisting firms in infrastructure development includingtransportation, electricity, water, factories and equipment.

The projects eligible for the support must satisfy certain regulations. Forcoffee processing projects, the minimum processing capacity must be 2,000tonnes per year for wet coffee, 20,000 tonnes per year for coffee beans usingdrying 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 regularwhite 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 forcashew nut, 10,000 tonnes per year for vegetables and fruits (including cannedvegetables and fruits).

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

Projects that provide seeds for key agricultural products will also receive 70per cent investment capital support, with a maximum level of 2 billion VND perproject.

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

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

Firms producing MDF (Medium-Density Fibreboard) wood with capacity of at least30,000cu.m per year or those who have plywood factory with capacity of at least100,000cu.m will be given a financial aid worth 20 billion VND per factory.

Businesses who process particle board, bamboo and industrial laminated woodwith minimum capacity of 20,000cu.m will receive capital of 10 billion VND perfactory.-VNA