Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has set a target for the agricultural sector to rake in US$44 billion from exports in 2021. 

Rice is one of the major hard currency earners of Vietnam
in 2020 despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(photo: vneconomy.vn)

Addressing a review meeting in Hanoi on Dec. 24, Phuc noted that despite numerous difficulties in 2020, agricultural production remain a key pillar of the national economy.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam has not only ensured its national food security but also exported large volumes of farm produce abroad, said the PM, adding that Vietnamese rice has beat Thai and Indian rice, topping the world in terms of the price.

In 2020 the agricultural sector secured an overall growth rate of 2.65%. It earned more than US$41 billion from exports, up 2.5% compared to the previous year. Notably, five staples bagged US$3 billion from exports each, of which timber brought back over US$12.8 billion, shrimp US$3.66 billion, vegetables and fruits US$3.35 billion, cashew nuts US$3.24 billion and rice US$3.07 billion.

The PM expected that the sector would accelerate its restructuring to obtain at least US$44 billion from exports in 2021. To this end, he asked the sector to turn ‘risk’ into opportunity’

“The risk here is the climatic extreme, but we have the experience of dealing with natural disasters. On the other hand, the door is wide open for us when we have participated in 14 new generation free trade agreements,” said Phuc.

The PM also suggested that localities and agricultural producers pay more attention to the domestic market, offering high quality products and meeting food safety regulations.