The restructuring has become critical for the sector as it involved 70% of the country’s population but contributing just below 20% of the nation’s GDP.
Agricultural restructuring is towards large-scale and high-tech production
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However, scattered production and low productivity were still problems that needed a resolution, Cuong said, adding Vietnam had 8.6 million farmer households and 78 million fields.
He said that policies related to reduce the proportion of labor in agriculture, attract investments in infrastructure, especially in the irrigation system, develop markets and improve land policies should be researched.
According to Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, restructuring the agricultural sector was a hard job because it was difficult to determine the dominance in the global value chain. He, however, believed Vietnam could be successful in the effort.
Cung said it was important to remove bottlenecks in land policies, especially land limit, to encourage investments and promote large-scale production.
Expert Truong Dinh Tuyen said Vietnam should develop the food and food-processing industry but be selective as many fresh products could be sold for high prices.
In addition to this, developing standards and promoting their application in production as well as enhancing quality control to improve product quality were critical to boost exports with high-added value.
Economic expert Tran Du Lich stressed the importance of enhancing the link between farmers and enterprises to develop the agricultural production chain.
The project of restructuring the agricultural sector to enhance added value and sustainable development was approved in June 2013. After four years, the per capita income of farmers rose from VND18.6 million (US$830) in 2012 to VND29.2 million in 2016, according to statistics of the agriculture ministry.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said trade promotion should be enhanced to boost the export of agro-forestry-fishery products to fulfill the target of $40 billion this year.
Expanding the export markets must be in line with developing the value chain and brand of major export products with significant potential, such as shrimp and fruits, Nam said.
Focus should be placed on removing technical barriers in the American and European markets, while expanding niche and new markets such as India and the Middle East.
According to the ministry’s steering committee for developing markets for agricultural products, boosting the export of agro-forestry-fishery products to China had huge potential due to its high demand, especially vegetables, fruits, seafood and milk products.
The ministry considered this a good opportunity for Vietnam to promote exports to the Chinese market. But given China’s requirements for product quality and tightening of border trade, it would be challenging for Vietnam’s export products.
The ministry predicts the demand of the European Union to increase in 2018, thanks to the economic recoveries of several member countries. Thus, the export of major products such as coffee, cashew and rubber to the EU would maintain good growth this year.
In the ASEAN market, Vietnam will promote the export of husbandry products to Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. Exports to Japan and China are predicted to be positive this year.
Deputy Minister Vu Van Tam recommended a market study and analysis to come up with specific measures to promote agricultural production and boost exports.
