Experts voiced their concerns over vulnerable farmers andagribusinesses that are likely to lose in their own home market asseveral free trade agreements effective early this year have stimulatedfiercer competition.
The opinions were heard at a forum on agricultural businesses and cooperatives in Ho Chi Minh City on June 4.
Nguyen Lam Vien, General Director of dried fruit producer VinamitJoint Stock Company, cited the fact that Chinese brokers have beentaking advantage of local farmers without legal interventions byauthorities.
Allegedly, the brokers producedfalse demand for a certain kind of agricultural product by offering tobuy at relatively high prices, sending the farmers into a rush to plantor collect the products for them.
When a hugesupply for the product was created, the Chinese brokers forced thefarmers to reduce the prices, leading to major losses for the farmers.
A large number of farmers nationwide have fallen for the trick due to whopping profits and lack of market information.
For example, sweet potato was sold at around 15,000 – 16,000 VND(0.69 – 0.73 USD) per kilogramme in 2014. This year, it has shed morethan half of its value last year to only 6,000 – 7,000 VND (0.27 – 0.32USD) per kilogramme as growers suffered from China’s unusual orders.
Vinamit has purchased large quantities of unsoldsweet potato when the growers were struggling to sell their crops sinceearly this year, Vien said.
It is unfair thatforeign traders can buy agricultural products in Vietnam withoutbarriers while domestic firms have to pay taxes, he added.
He also suggested there should be tariff and non-tariff barriersalongside protection laws to shift the status quo, and agribusinessesshould actively access foreign markets by satisfying technical standardsof importers overseas.
At the forum,participants stressed the need for agricultural production restructuringas small-scale production is still vastly popular, despite its highcosts. The connection between the government, agribusinesses, scientistsand farmers in agricultural production and distribution should bestrengthened in which farmers and businesses are key players, theyproposed.
Some asked for a trading floor fordomestic agricultural products, similar to a stock exchange or coffeeexchange model, which facilitates a stable trading market for both localand overseas entrepreneurs.-VNA
The opinions were heard at a forum on agricultural businesses and cooperatives in Ho Chi Minh City on June 4.
Nguyen Lam Vien, General Director of dried fruit producer VinamitJoint Stock Company, cited the fact that Chinese brokers have beentaking advantage of local farmers without legal interventions byauthorities.
Allegedly, the brokers producedfalse demand for a certain kind of agricultural product by offering tobuy at relatively high prices, sending the farmers into a rush to plantor collect the products for them.
When a hugesupply for the product was created, the Chinese brokers forced thefarmers to reduce the prices, leading to major losses for the farmers.
A large number of farmers nationwide have fallen for the trick due to whopping profits and lack of market information.
For example, sweet potato was sold at around 15,000 – 16,000 VND(0.69 – 0.73 USD) per kilogramme in 2014. This year, it has shed morethan half of its value last year to only 6,000 – 7,000 VND (0.27 – 0.32USD) per kilogramme as growers suffered from China’s unusual orders.
Vinamit has purchased large quantities of unsoldsweet potato when the growers were struggling to sell their crops sinceearly this year, Vien said.
It is unfair thatforeign traders can buy agricultural products in Vietnam withoutbarriers while domestic firms have to pay taxes, he added.
He also suggested there should be tariff and non-tariff barriersalongside protection laws to shift the status quo, and agribusinessesshould actively access foreign markets by satisfying technical standardsof importers overseas.
At the forum,participants stressed the need for agricultural production restructuringas small-scale production is still vastly popular, despite its highcosts. The connection between the government, agribusinesses, scientistsand farmers in agricultural production and distribution should bestrengthened in which farmers and businesses are key players, theyproposed.
Some asked for a trading floor fordomestic agricultural products, similar to a stock exchange or coffeeexchange model, which facilitates a stable trading market for both localand overseas entrepreneurs.-VNA
