The provision of market information to people in ethnic, mountainous and border areas – a pivotal task during integration – is falling short of expectations, conceded Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai on July 24.

He said seeking consumption markets for Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products is an important task effectively carried out through communication efforts.

Vietnam has joined in eight bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements at different levels and its economy is expected to profit from the extensive integration, said Deputy Minister – Vice Chairman of the Government’s Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Hoang Xuan Luong.

However, such integration will make the production and sale of agro-forestry-fishery products in ethnic, mountainous and border areas more vulnerable if local residents lack access to market information, he warned.

Luong stressed that market information must be regarded as a special production tool which not only creates products and their added value but also helps enforce State policies expeditiously and efficiently in those areas.

At the workshop in northern Quang Ninh province, participants underscored the significance of market information to ethnic, mountainous and border areas and pointed out flaws in existing related policies.

Many opinions urged the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to propose policy amendments and socio-economic development facilitation programmes for the targeted areas to the Government. The initiatives will need to be in line with the current integration period as well as local identities.

Vietnam is home to more than 130 districts located in mountainous and remote areas and over 200 others have mountainous and remote communes.

More than half of the national population, about 48 million people, reside in the areas where the household poverty rate is more than three times the national average and economic and infrastructure development is limited.-VNA