Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the dialogue with farmers (Source: VNA) Hai Duong (VNA) – The government will continuepaying close attention to agriculture and rural areas and create the bestenvironment for their development, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said duringa dialogue with farmers in the northern province of Hai Duong on April 9.
While highlighting the outstanding achievements of theagricultural sector in recent years, the PM said many questions remainunanswered, such as why 70 percent of the nation’s population live in ruralareas and account for 43 percent of the workforce but contribute just 18percent o the national GDP.
He said the Government and the people should join hands toremove difficulties for the development of agriculture and rural areas.
Addressing a farmer’s question on the repeated problem ofdropping prices when there is bumper harvest, PM Phuc said while the governmenthas strived to seek markets for Vietnamese farm produce for many years, farmersand firms should adjust production in accordance with market needs.
“Before sowing, farmers must think how much they willproduce and to whom they will sell the products,” the PM said.
At the same time, he underlined the importance of theprocessing industry, and urged that firms would actively build processingplants to raise Vietnamese farm produce’s value.
In response to farmers’ concern about difficulties inselling high-quality farm produce as consumers are unable to make a differencebetween such produce and normal ones, Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Xuan Cuong asked agencies concerned to develop standards forgoods quality, increase marketing and trade promotion to help consumers havemore knowledge about good products, and support producers in building brandnames.
As regards farmers’ difficulties in accessing capital,Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu said the maincause is the lack of transparent information on the intended use of capital. Hepointed to the fact that many borrowers used capital in an inefficient way orfor wrong purpose, leading to bad debts and forcing banks to tightenregulations on lending.
He said the total outstanding loans for agriculture, farmersand rural areas now surpass 1.3 quadrillion VND, or nearly 22 percent of thetotal outstanding loans of the entire economy.
Deputy Finance Minister Huynh Quang Hai said the FinanceMinistry granted 600 billion VND to the Farmers’ Support Fund – a unit of theVietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU), last year and asked the PM to increase fundingthis year. He asked the VFU to allocate the sum to its units so as to ensurethat loans will be provided in an effective manner.
In conclusion, PM Phuc stressed the requirement thatagriculture must develop towards modernity and sustainability, large-scalecommodity production with high productivity, quality and competitiveness, thusensuring national food security in both immediate and long term. Thedevelopment of rural areas must focus on building modern socio-economicinfrastructure and stable society with rich cultural identity, improving livingconditions for rural population, and protecting the environment.
The leader requested ministries, agencies and localitiesstep up administrative and institutional reform, and improve investmentenvironment in agriculture and rural areas.
The SBV, credit organisations and localities were requiredto make it easier for farmers and firms to access loans and reduce lending interestrates by 0.5-1 percent.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development andMinistry of Industry and Trade must work to attract more businesses in agricultureand rural development, build agricultural value chains and form linkages withfarmers.
The government will open more channels to acquire publicfeedback and enable farmers to do their best to enrich themselves and thenation, the PM said.-VNA
While highlighting the outstanding achievements of theagricultural sector in recent years, the PM said many questions remainunanswered, such as why 70 percent of the nation’s population live in ruralareas and account for 43 percent of the workforce but contribute just 18percent o the national GDP.
He said the Government and the people should join hands toremove difficulties for the development of agriculture and rural areas.
Addressing a farmer’s question on the repeated problem ofdropping prices when there is bumper harvest, PM Phuc said while the governmenthas strived to seek markets for Vietnamese farm produce for many years, farmersand firms should adjust production in accordance with market needs.
“Before sowing, farmers must think how much they willproduce and to whom they will sell the products,” the PM said.
At the same time, he underlined the importance of theprocessing industry, and urged that firms would actively build processingplants to raise Vietnamese farm produce’s value.
In response to farmers’ concern about difficulties inselling high-quality farm produce as consumers are unable to make a differencebetween such produce and normal ones, Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Xuan Cuong asked agencies concerned to develop standards forgoods quality, increase marketing and trade promotion to help consumers havemore knowledge about good products, and support producers in building brandnames.
As regards farmers’ difficulties in accessing capital,Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Dao Minh Tu said the maincause is the lack of transparent information on the intended use of capital. Hepointed to the fact that many borrowers used capital in an inefficient way orfor wrong purpose, leading to bad debts and forcing banks to tightenregulations on lending.
He said the total outstanding loans for agriculture, farmersand rural areas now surpass 1.3 quadrillion VND, or nearly 22 percent of thetotal outstanding loans of the entire economy.
Deputy Finance Minister Huynh Quang Hai said the FinanceMinistry granted 600 billion VND to the Farmers’ Support Fund – a unit of theVietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU), last year and asked the PM to increase fundingthis year. He asked the VFU to allocate the sum to its units so as to ensurethat loans will be provided in an effective manner.
In conclusion, PM Phuc stressed the requirement thatagriculture must develop towards modernity and sustainability, large-scalecommodity production with high productivity, quality and competitiveness, thusensuring national food security in both immediate and long term. Thedevelopment of rural areas must focus on building modern socio-economicinfrastructure and stable society with rich cultural identity, improving livingconditions for rural population, and protecting the environment.
The leader requested ministries, agencies and localitiesstep up administrative and institutional reform, and improve investmentenvironment in agriculture and rural areas.
The SBV, credit organisations and localities were requiredto make it easier for farmers and firms to access loans and reduce lending interestrates by 0.5-1 percent.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development andMinistry of Industry and Trade must work to attract more businesses in agricultureand rural development, build agricultural value chains and form linkages withfarmers.
The government will open more channels to acquire publicfeedback and enable farmers to do their best to enrich themselves and thenation, the PM said.-VNA
VNA
