The People’s Committee of Can Tho city and the Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry met recently to discuss ways to increase the number of locally made agricultural equipment and machinery. (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNS/VNA) - The People’s Committee of Can Tho City andthe Vietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI) met recently to addressthe urgent need to produce agricultural machinery.
Vietnam makes 30-40 percent of the agricultural machines used in the country,and the rest are imported, mostly from China and Japan.
The country has not developed agricultural machinery production largely becausethe support industry for the sector does not exist.
Every year, the country spends about 800 million USD to import agricultural machines,and is expected reach 1 billion USD in 2020, according to experts.
The imported machines are ploughs, pesticide sprayers and harvesting machines.
Nguyen Chi Sang, deputy chairman of VAMI, said that local firms had hugepotential to make agricultural machinery.
Firms involving in the production include the Vietnam Engine and AgriculturalMachinery Corp, Long An Mechanical and Truong Hai Automobile JSC (Thaco).
Local firms know farmers better than foreign firms, and are more attuned towhat they need. But they still face difficulties, particularly high prices.
To compete with foreign-made machines, the Government should have more specificpolicies to encourage the domestic agricultural machinery industry, expertssaid.
More favourable conditions to access long-term loans with preferential interestrates should be created.
The most urgent measure is to rapidly modernise technology and train skilledworkers.
The Government should also provide access to credit and tax breaks to thoseinvolved in production of parts for farm equipment.
The Government should also make it easier to form joint ventures with foreignfirms to make and assemble highly specialised tractors, as well as machines forharvesting rice and sugarcane, experts said.
Representatives from companies said at the meeting that the Government shoulderect technical barriers to keep out low-quality foreign agricultural machineryand equipment.
Experts estimate that the Mekong Delta region has suffered an average loss oftens of billions of dong yearly due to the lack of rice harvest andpreservation machines.
Tran Thanh Tu, an expert in agricultural machines, said: "Farmers losethousands of dollars every year by not having machinery for harvesting rice.Manual harvesting a field that yields eight tonnes of rice results in anaverage loss of around 8 percent, while the rate brought by machinery usage isonly 3 percent.” — VNS/VNA
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