Hanoi (VNA) - Developing a fertile ground foragriculture start-ups will be crucial for the sector’s much-neededtransformation, experts said at an online forum on December 27.

Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)which co-organised the forum with Dien Dan Doanh Nghiep (Business Forum), said Vietnamhad special advantages in agriculture and start-up entrepreneurship wouldpromote the sector’s development, especially when restructuring it had become apriority.

He said there was increasing interest in investing in agriculture, and believedstart-ups would take the lead, provided an “ecosystem’ was developed to make ithappen.

The ecosystem should enable start-ups to access markets, supply human resourceof high quality and have a financial structure to provide capital forstart-ups, venture capital or angel investment, Loc said.

The Government is paying special attention to promotingstart-ups, seeing them as a driver for economic restructuring, especially inthe agriculture sector, said Pham Quang Hien, Director of the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development’s Enterprise Management Department.

Hien said the proportion of firms operating in agriculture and ruraldevelopment remained modest, at around one per cent of the total. Agriculturalproduction was also happening mainly on a small and scattered scale, he added.

He said that it was important to formulate detailed policies to attract privateand foreign investments in agriculture and improve the business climatefollowing the Government’s Resolution 19/NQ-CP.

Feasible agriculture production and land use plans were needed, Hien said.

Nguyen Chi Ngoc, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Associationof Agriculture and Rural Development, said the Government played an importantrole in encouraging investments in agriculture – a sector with a lot of riskand slow capital recovery.

Application of modern technology would be key to the successof firms in this sector, Ngoc added.

Vu Ngoc Huyen from the Vietnam National University ofAgriculture proposed a start-up consultancy service for the sector.

According to Pham Hong Quat, Director of the National Agency for TechnologyEntrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development, promoting co-ordinationbetween the Government, universities, scientist and firms is of significant importancein encouraging start-ups.

The Ministry of Science and Technology is preparing a project to establish astart-up ecosystem in Vietnam by 2025.-VNA