Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Toachieve sustainable development, Vietnam’s agriculture sector needs to improveproductivity and quality as well as define the market structure for eachfarming product, experts said at the Vietnam agricultural outlook conference inHanoi on May 24.
At the conference, held by the Economic Department of the National Assembly Officeand the Ipsard, the experts provided updated forecasts on Vietnam’s agriculturesector for this year and the next two to three years, and discussed feasiblesolutions to develop major farming products such as rice, seafood, vegetablesand fruits.
Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy forAgriculture and Rural Development (Ipsard) under the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development (MARD), said Vietnam’s agriculture sector has good supplycapacity so it can meet changing demand on local and global markets.
The sector has also restructured itself as well as farming products, opened moreexport markets and re-organised products to meet demand on the markets, hesaid.
This year, the sector has faced many challenges, but vegetable and fruitexports have grown strongly over the past few years. In the first four monthsof this year, the local agricultural sector achieved year-on-year growth of32.6 percent, to a record of 1 billion USD from vegetable and fruit exports.Local exporters have opened four more export markets for Vietnamese vegetablesand fruits.
Le Van Binh, deputy head of the Economic Department at the National AssemblyOffice, said export value of vegetables and fruit in 2016 reached 2.46 billionUSD, a year-on-year surge of 33.6 percent. This farming product is showingstrong growth in exports and significant success in expanding its exportmarkets.
Strong investment by the private sector, especially in high-tech, has helpedthe vegetable and fruit industry compete against other farming products, hesaid.
However, Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit industry has faced increases intechnical and commercial barriers on export markets and the short usage time ofraw vegetables and fruits, Binh said.
Other major farming products like rice and seafood have faced strictcompetition and challenges in the short and long term. Those products need toredefine markets and improve management ability for creating value chains andbuilding brands, he said.
According to Ipsard’s forecasts, in 2017, Vietnam’s agriculture sector willstill face restrictive trade barriers and fierce competition with othercountries that have promoted production and exports of farming products on theglobal market. The export prices of farming products will not recover in theshort term.
In terms of supply, extreme weather conditions due to climate change and marineenvironmental pollution are predicted to impact agricultural production. At thesame time, surplus production capacity of some commodities such as livestockwill make these industries struggle in the export market.
Ipsard also said Vietnamese rice has competed fiercely with other large riceexporters such as Thailand and India and new rice exporters like Cambodia andMyanmar. Meanwhile, the traditional export markets for Vietnamese rice havealso limited imports of rice.
Regarding price trends, the actual price of rice is expected to decrease in themedium term, the institute said.
To develop the rice industry in the direction of improving quality, value andincreasing sustainable development, Ipsard said that the local agriculturalsector needs to redefine the market structure, specialised areas, and thestructure of varieties and crop; and to study the development of processing anddiversification of rice products.
For the fisheries sector, global protection policies and climate change will bechallenges for the sector in the short and long terms. The sector needs tofocus on added value in processing and brand building.
Nguyen Dinh Thien, director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, said manyenterprises have paid attention to investment in the agriculture sector insteadof the State and farmers as before. Therefore, the State should promote therelationship between enterprises and farmers.
It is necessary to change the development for Vietnam’s agricultural and ruralarea, including farming products, to focus on increasing output andagricultural production based on cooperation between the State and farmers, Thiensaid.
The state should have solutions to attract investment to agriculture, includingsolutions on land use licences and land accumulation, he said.-VNA
At the conference, held by the Economic Department of the National Assembly Officeand the Ipsard, the experts provided updated forecasts on Vietnam’s agriculturesector for this year and the next two to three years, and discussed feasiblesolutions to develop major farming products such as rice, seafood, vegetablesand fruits.
Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy forAgriculture and Rural Development (Ipsard) under the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development (MARD), said Vietnam’s agriculture sector has good supplycapacity so it can meet changing demand on local and global markets.
The sector has also restructured itself as well as farming products, opened moreexport markets and re-organised products to meet demand on the markets, hesaid.
This year, the sector has faced many challenges, but vegetable and fruitexports have grown strongly over the past few years. In the first four monthsof this year, the local agricultural sector achieved year-on-year growth of32.6 percent, to a record of 1 billion USD from vegetable and fruit exports.Local exporters have opened four more export markets for Vietnamese vegetablesand fruits.
Le Van Binh, deputy head of the Economic Department at the National AssemblyOffice, said export value of vegetables and fruit in 2016 reached 2.46 billionUSD, a year-on-year surge of 33.6 percent. This farming product is showingstrong growth in exports and significant success in expanding its exportmarkets.
Strong investment by the private sector, especially in high-tech, has helpedthe vegetable and fruit industry compete against other farming products, hesaid.
However, Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit industry has faced increases intechnical and commercial barriers on export markets and the short usage time ofraw vegetables and fruits, Binh said.
Other major farming products like rice and seafood have faced strictcompetition and challenges in the short and long term. Those products need toredefine markets and improve management ability for creating value chains andbuilding brands, he said.
According to Ipsard’s forecasts, in 2017, Vietnam’s agriculture sector willstill face restrictive trade barriers and fierce competition with othercountries that have promoted production and exports of farming products on theglobal market. The export prices of farming products will not recover in theshort term.
In terms of supply, extreme weather conditions due to climate change and marineenvironmental pollution are predicted to impact agricultural production. At thesame time, surplus production capacity of some commodities such as livestockwill make these industries struggle in the export market.
Ipsard also said Vietnamese rice has competed fiercely with other large riceexporters such as Thailand and India and new rice exporters like Cambodia andMyanmar. Meanwhile, the traditional export markets for Vietnamese rice havealso limited imports of rice.
Regarding price trends, the actual price of rice is expected to decrease in themedium term, the institute said.
To develop the rice industry in the direction of improving quality, value andincreasing sustainable development, Ipsard said that the local agriculturalsector needs to redefine the market structure, specialised areas, and thestructure of varieties and crop; and to study the development of processing anddiversification of rice products.
For the fisheries sector, global protection policies and climate change will bechallenges for the sector in the short and long terms. The sector needs tofocus on added value in processing and brand building.
Nguyen Dinh Thien, director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, said manyenterprises have paid attention to investment in the agriculture sector insteadof the State and farmers as before. Therefore, the State should promote therelationship between enterprises and farmers.
It is necessary to change the development for Vietnam’s agricultural and ruralarea, including farming products, to focus on increasing output andagricultural production based on cooperation between the State and farmers, Thiensaid.
The state should have solutions to attract investment to agriculture, includingsolutions on land use licences and land accumulation, he said.-VNA
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