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Minister Le Minh Hoan and leaders of Bac Giang Province visit a lychee garden in Chao village in Giap Son Commune of Luc Ngan District. |
He made the statement at the conference to review the first 6 months of the agricultural industry in Hanoi yesterday.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, in the context of the declining economy and export markets, the agricultural sector still achieved a high growth rate in the first 6 months of the year with 3.07 percent. While the agricultural products had a good export turnover, exports of wood and aquatic products dropped drastically, said Head of the Planning Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Van Viet.
Although the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products only reached US$24.59 billion, down 11.1 percent over the same period in 2022, in the past 6 months, exports of rice, vegetables, and especially durian brought a lot of revenue for the country. For instance, the export value of vegetables and fruits reached about $2.75 billion, up 64.2 percent over the same period and the highest all time.
Mr. Viet forecast if the growth momentum is maintained, the country can earn over $5 billion in the year. The main agricultural product group had an export turnover of $12.79 billion, up 12 percent, whereas the export of key products such as wood and aquatic products fell sharply including 27.4 percent for seafood and 28.2 percent for main forestry products.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Quoc Tri assessed that, in the past 8-10 years, the export of wooden furniture has never been as difficult as it is now, especially in the first quarter of 2023 and the situation was better at the end of the second quarter.
According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam, rice exports have become a bright spot this year. So far, the country has exported 4.27 million tons, up 22.2 percent, earning $2.3 billion. Roughly 22.8 million tons of rice were harvested; however, due to the impact of El Nino, the productivity of the upcoming winter-spring rice crop will definitely be affected.
Mr. Nam urged the Department of Crop Production to adjust the structure of summer-autumn and winter-spring rice crops in the Mekong Delta to both ensure the year's output and avoid damage due to saltwater intrusion.
Talking about export markets, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam said that this is a difficult problem. The export of rice and vegetables to key markets of China, the United States and Japan is good, but exports of timber and seafood have decreased sharply, especially shrimp. Therefore, related agencies should focus on trade promotion to export agricultural products to these markets in the last 6 months of the year while trade counselors were urged to grasp the needs of importers.
Mr. Nam also disclosed that a mission team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has arrived in China for negotiation and the General Department of Customs of China has agreed to extend the customs clearance time and consider more agricultural products to China. Therefore, the Plant Protection Department and the Cultivation Department must prepare for registration with the General Administration of Customs of China.
In the long term, it is necessary to build an association of Vietnamese agricultural enterprises and the provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan in China to create a complete supply chain for official export, said Mr. Nam.
Referring to solutions to solve difficulties for the agricultural product market, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan suggested taking advantage of all opportunities for exports, including both traditional and newly opened markets, especially free trade agreements for signing new orders.
Besides, it is also necessary to pay more attention to the exploitation of the domestic market with many trade promotion methods, especially e-commerce and social networking platforms.
Minister Le Minh Hoan said that science and technology should be necessarily identified as a breakthrough solution to bring about the development of the industry in the direction of building an agricultural economy that will focus on improving the value and economic efficiency of each group of agricultural, forestry and fishery products.
Particularly, the Ministry and relevant agencies should build a circular economy for the fisheries sector’s development to increase marine aquaculture in association with the exploitation, treatment and processing of waste and by-products of this industry.
The Minister took the solutions adopted by the Northern Province of Bac Giang as an example. Leaders of Bac Giang have attracted people from all corners of the country to help consume lychees. Minister Minh Hoan said that farmers in Bac Giang Province are selling their agricultural produce in their orchards.
