Delegates discuss the role of credit in linkages in the agricultural sector at a seminar in HCM City on December 27. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA)- The Government and the banking sector are paying more attention in enablingthose involved in the agricultural sector to obtain loans from the bank, butthe number of farmers and agricultural cooperatives to get access to bank loansremains modest, experts said at a seminar held in HCM City on December 27.
Le Duc Thinh, head of the Agency of Cooperatives and Rural Development, saidthat the bank loans played an important role in the agricultural sector,helping to modernise processing, preservation and trading facilities and otherphases involved in value chains.
The country is home to 10 million hectares of arable land, more than 15 millionfarmer households, and 15,000 agricultural co-operatives.
According to a representative of the State Bank of Vietnam who declined to benamed, bank loans in the agricultural sector account for about 15 percent ofthe economy’s total outstanding loans.
Credit in agriculture remained limited and had not met demand, he said, addingthat the number of enterprises operating in the agricultural sector remainedlow and most were small scale.
“Less than one per cent of agricultural co-operatives have obtained bankloans,” he added.
Tran Hoai Phuong, director of HDBank's corporate customer division, said thebank had set aside a significant amount of money to provide loans to thoseinvolved in the agricultural sector and that it was willing to work withagricultural enterprises and farmers to design credit packages at competitiveinterest rates.
Besides improving loan access, developing efficient linkages in agriculturalvalue chains was also discussed at the seminar.
Such linkages are essential to guarantee sales as well as ensure sustainabledevelopment of the sector, according to participants.
Mai Thanh Phung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Farms and AgriculturalEnterprises Association, said that 2,900 cooperatives were linked in the valuechain. Of the number, 1,200 value chains contained over 1,400 products, mainlyvegetables, fruits, egg, rice, and seafood, that had received certifications.
Many programmes that connect agricultural cooperatives and businesses had hadencouraging results, but there had still been obstacles to develop linkages, Phungsaid.
Violations of contracts between businesses and farmers, for example, had been aproblem, he said, adding that successful linkages would be a win-win situationfor all involved parties.
Everyone in the agricultural sector should work together more closely, andenterprises should take the lead, Phung added.
"In the linkage chain, enterprises play an important role in providingfarmers with market information so they can respond to market demand," hesaid.
“The number of businesses investing in the agricultural sector remains low, atabout 12,000 enterprises so the Government needs to have a policy to attractmore businesses to invest in the sector,” Phung said./.
VNA
