The Vietnam Private Sector Economic Forum 2019 opened in Hanoi on May 2, with a special conference focusing on the sustainable formation and development of agro-forestry-fishery value chains for international integration.

The event, co-organised by the Government and the Economic Commission of the Party Central Committee, gathered nearly 300 Vietnamese and foreign delegates. It took place when agriculture remains the major supply source of food despite the sector’s reducing contributions to the GDP from nearly 40 percent in the 1990s to less than 15 percent by the end of 2018.

According to deputy head of the commission Cao Duc Phat, the forum aims to find out measures to strengthen connectivity to develop value chains for strong farm produce of Vietnam, and promote investment in agriculture and rural areas amidst international integration.

He noted that among the 500,000 operating enterprises, only 6,000 work in agriculture. Vietnam has 10 million farmer households with small and micro production scales comparing to that in other countries, he added.

The official stressed the need to boost the role of household production and businesses, especially private firms.

Participants at the event gave various proposals to improve the linkage of involved parties in agricultural production, including developing big firms to motivate the production and the formation of databases for agro-forestry-fishery products.

According to Le Duc Thinh, head of the Department of Cooperatives and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, only 11-14 percent of agricultural products have been sold through the connections of parties, and only 3-5 percent sold through connection chains with safe agricultural practices such as VietGap and GlobalGap.

He underscored the necessity to train farmers on production standards and raise their public awareness of enhancing farm produce quality.

Vice President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance Nguyen Van Thinh said that it is crucial to amend the 2012 Law on Cooperatives and the Land Law to deal with problems in land accumulation for production development, while building models for cooperatives in associated with key products of each locality. Cooperatives themselves should reform and improve their capacity to meet integration and linkage requirements.

Nguyen Ngoc Dan, chairman of smart online monitoring company United proposed the training of agricultural workers by opening courses for farmers to master the cultivation of particular plants with the support of the local government.

It is necessary to set specific requirements for connection chains with detailed mechanisms and benefits of each member, he stressed. 

Deputy General Director of the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank Le Xuan Trung stressed the need to strengthening the role of the provincial People’s Committees in chain development, while monitoring and supporting locals to join the chains, and providing risk and price insurance for members of the chains to reduce their losses.