This year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development implemented solutions to encourage businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas. Photo congthuong.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will continue to implement solutions to attract investment in agriculture and rural areas next year, Nguyễn Trường Thắng, deputy head of MARD's Enterprise Management Department, has confirmed. 

Speaking at a forum on enterprises in the development of agriculture and rural areas held in Hà Nội on December 28, Thắng said the ministry would continue to implement solutions to innovate the mechanism to support businesses in expanding markets. 

It will coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop a project on promoting the application of information technology and market forecasts and build brands of products.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic is still complicated, the ministry will continue to support enterprises exploiting the domestic market and gradually overcoming difficulties to resume normal production and business.

At the same time, it continues to restructure State-owned enterprises and agricultural and forestry companies to attract investment from all economic sectors in agricultural and rural development.

MARD will develop a project to build the Vietnam Agricultural Product Supply Center by 2030. 

In 2022, the State issued many major policies on agriculture, rural areas and farmers to attract investment in the agricultural sector and officially export farm produce with high value. Agriculture continues to maintain its role as the backbone of the economy, said Hồ Xuân Hùng, chairman of the Vietnam General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to MARD, it has implemented solutions to encourage businesses to invest in agriculture and rural areas this year.

The ministry had documents guiding the implementation of Decree 57/2018/NĐ-CP on mechanisms and policies to encourage enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas, Decree 109/2018/NĐ-CP on organic agriculture and Decree 98/2018/NĐ-CP on policies to encourage cooperation and association in the agriculture.

In 2022, the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products has officially set a new record, estimated at US$53.2 billion, up 9.3 per cent over the same period in 2021. Việt Nam has become one of the world's leading exporters of agricultural, forestry and fishery products. 

The agricultural product market has continued to expand by focusing on the domestic market and removing many trade barriers for agro, seafood and forestry exports.

Forms of production organisation continued to be innovated to develop in quantity and quality and gradually improve efficiency in operation. It has focused on reorganising and renovating State-owned enterprises, agricultural, seafood and forestry companies, and developing cooperatives and small and medium enterprises.

The number of agro-forestry-fishery enterprises is growing to have more investment in agriculture and rural areas, becoming the core of the value chain of agricultural products. In 2022, the sector had more than 800 newly established enterprises, bringing the total number to 14,000.

Besides developing small and medium-sized enterprises, several large corporations and enterprises continue to promote investment in agriculture, especially hi-tech agriculture, such as Nafoods, TH true MILK, Dabaco Vietnam, Masan, and Lavifood, according to MARD.

The associations of agro-forestry-fishery products have also played a significant role in formulating mechanisms, policies, and regulations on the control and certification of product quality. They received feedback from the businesses to solve problems and contribute to adjusting production planning and plans.

To develop a sustainable agricultural sector, it is necessary to create close links among businesses, cooperatives and farmers. 

Every year, MARD has organised many short-term training courses for small and medium-sized enterprises to support them in switching from thinking about agricultural production to the agricultural economy.

The ministry is urged to continue its support for businesses in connecting with localities to form high-tech agricultural regions and specialised farming areas and participate in the supply chain of raw materials from cooperatives to processing factories.