Hanoi (VNA) – The Grow Asia Forum was held in Hanoi on September 11within the framework of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN 2018 whichlasts from September 11-13.

Theforum brought together leaders of agriculture ministries from member countries ofthe Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), multinational and globalcorporations, and companies operating in agriculture in the ASEAN region ingeneral and Vietnam in particular.

With18 sessions, the event focused on agricultural finance, digital innovation inagricultural production, agriculture and the fourth Industrial Revolution,precision technology in agriculture and low-emission agriculture, among others.

Inhis opening remarks, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung saidagriculture is a key economic sector of most of ASEAN countries, noting thatagro-forestry-fishery production not only ensures food security in the regionwith a combined population of 650 million but also contributes to global foodsecurity.

Tointegrate more intensively and extensively, the agricultural sector needs tomake stronger changes, with the broader participation of the private sector andapplication of cutting-edge technologies of the fourth Industrial Revolution,towards more modernity, efficiency, inclusion and sustainability, he stressed.

Dungsaid agricultural cooperation is one of the most important contents of theASEAN Economic Community in order to increase market access capacity of farmproduce, develop product chains and promote the participation and benefits offarming households.

TheDeputy PM listed an array of measures such as enhancing strategic cooperationin agriculture in ASEAN through bilateral, multilateral and regionalcollaboration, establishing potential agricultural links in the region, andintensifying direct investment and strategic partnerships between producers,customers and commercial businesses.

TheGrow Asia Forum aims to set up partnerships to support ASEAN countries infulfilling the WEF’s New Vision for Agriculture’s targets of increasing food production by 20 percent, lowering greenhouse gasemissions by 20 percent, and reducing rural poverty by 20 percent by 2030.

The targets will be completed by connecting concerned parties likeGovernments, businesses and farmers, especially via the Public PrivatePartnership (PPP), he said.

Dung went on to say that Vietnam considers the PPP model animportant tool to attract investment in agriculture and develop production,focusing on value chains and in-depth processing.

Under the action plan on agricultural restructuring by 2020, theVietnamese Government has put agriculture at the centre of sustainable economicdevelopment, adaptation to climate change and prosperous rural area building.

Science-technology and the PPP investment model would be factors thathelp Vietnam realize its goals of sustainable agricultural and ruraldevelopment, he said.

Apart from Governments and farmers, businesses serve as the mostdynamic factor in the value chain since they organise the production,processing and consumption of agricultural products, especially amidst thefourth Industrial Revolution.

The Deputy PM expressed his belief that the participatingmanagers, experts and businesses will work together to seek innovation methodsin agriculture, utilising agricultural advantages in the region, improvingpeople’s living standards and contributing to ensuring global food security inthe face of climate change.-VNA