Agricultural sector gradually improves added value

Despite the negative impact by the world economy, the agricultural sector still posted a GDP growth of 6.27 percent and an export turnover of 27.5 billion USD in 2013.
Despite the negative impact by the world economy, the agriculturalsector still posted a GDP growth of 6.27 percent and an export turnoverof 27.5 billion USD in 2013.

These are encouragingsigns for the sector in the path of increasing farm produce sales byraising added value step by step.

A look back on theyear, the sector revealed that it faced a host of challenges,especially in selling agricultural products. In addition, lowinvestment, high interest rates and input costs also hindered itsdevelopment.

The farming sector has yet to seesustainable development, as measures for farm produce have predominantlybeen short-term fixes, stated Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Cao Duc Phat at a recent conference to review the sector’s2013 performance.

However, it still maintainedgrowth equivalent to that of the previous year, contributing to thecountry’s progress, inflation control, social security and new ruraldevelopment, he said.

He also expressed his beliefthat the sector will continue to enjoy significant growth in the time tocome as its restructuring drive is being implemented in all areas.

In order to remove difficulties for agricultural businesses andfarmers, Phat said that the Government has recently issued policies tosupport production and sale, strictly prevent smuggling, and enhance thecontrol and prevention of diseases.

Together withpolicies supporting the scientific and technological application, theGovernment is also developing the processing of agro-forestry andseafood products and reducing post-harvest losses, he said.

The State Bank of Vietnam has also provided soft loans forbusinesses and farmers to purchase machines and equipment, he added

Regarding the new-style rural development, Minister Phat said that theParty, National Assembly and Government have focused resources onspeeding up a national target programme in this area, with a view tochanging the outlook of the rural areas.

By the endof 2013, an impressive 93 percent of communes completed their new ruralplanning while 7,995 out of the 9,084 communes approved projects onnews-style rural building. Total social investment mobilised for theprogramme reached nearly 41.4 trillion VND (1.97 billion USD).

Many localities such as Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen and HaTinh have applied good policies in mobilising resources for thiscampaign.

Through the programme, more than 7,000production models have been launched, contributing to improvingproduction efficiency and rural residents’ incomes, said the minister.-VNA

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