Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Ministerof Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan has pledged to tackleobstacles to two projects on food safety and hygiene, and sustainable fisherydevelopment, saying that they are urgent to Vietnam’s agriculture.
During a working session with World Bank Country Director in Vietnam Carolyn Turk on June 23, Hoan said following the 13th NationalParty Congress, Vietnam set the goal of developing ecological and sustainableagriculture, and changed mindset from agricultural production to agriculturaleconomy, thus creating multiple values.
Inthe document “Transforming Vietnam’s Agriculture” compiled by the WB in 2016,he said Vietnam’s achievements and obstacles in agriculture have been pointedout, along with successful models in the world that Vietnam could learn from.
He wishedthat Vietnam could receive support and advice from the lender and otherexperts during the process of building agriculture ecological system to spreadto other regions, thus improving farmers’ lives.
Theminister also called for the WB’s assistance in policy and strategyconsultation, and mechanism renovation so as to fully tap the strength of bothpublic and private sectors, farming enterprises, as well as farmers andcooperatives.
TheVietnamese Government has issued a resolution on sustainable development ofthe Mekong Delta in adaptation with climate change. However, problems regardingthe shift of farming models in adaptation with reduction in water resource andextreme weather remain, he said, adding that Vietnam also needs the WB’ssupport in disaster prevention, and ensuring the safety of dykes and irrigationinfrastructure in service of production, especially clean water and ruralenvironment.
TheWB also needs to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (MARD) to build projects using loans, with priority orientations tofishery, food safety and climate change adaptation.
At the working session (Photo: VNA) Turk, for her part, hoped that ties between the WB and the MARD would be strengthened in the near future. She added that challenges in the next decade will be harder than those in the past 25 years
She wants to partner with Vietnam to develop agriculture with low carbonemissions in the future.
According to the official, apart fromfood safety, consumers also favour and are willing pay high for farm producewith low carbon emissions.
She also proposed cleaning water sources as soon as possible to save costs, saying the WB is ready to work with theMARD to offer financial assistance to future projects./.
