The Deputy Minister made the revelation while chairing a press conference on the afternoon of December 29 in Hanoi about the results of Vietnam's agricultural sector in 2023.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that Vietnamese businesses were facing difficulties and challenges, especially the export market for forestry and aquatic products, but the agriculture sector continues to affirm its position as a pillar of the economy while ensuring food security for macroeconomic stability.
Despite bottlenecks in exports, Vietnam's agricultural sector still achieved a trade surplus, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The Ministry announced the sector’s achievements including this year's rice output of 43.4 million tons an increase of 1.7 percent. Moreover, production of live meat of all kinds reached 7.6 million tons up 3.5 percent and seafood output reached 9.3 million tons up 2.9 percent compared to 2022.
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Viet, Director of the Planning Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products for the year 2023 reached US$53.01 billion. However, the sector’s turnover failed to meet the target of US$55 billion assigned by the Prime Minister for the year as well as the target of US$ 54 billion registered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, Mr. Nguyen Van Viet said, the agricultural sector in 2023 will still create a miracle in terms of trade surplus with a record level of US$12.07 billion an increase of 43.7 percent and accounting for more than 42.5 percent of the country’s total export value. Some export items increased to record highs such as fruits and vegetables and rice. The revenue from exports of fruits and vegetables reached US$5.69 billion up 69.2 percent and rice reached US$4.78 billion up 38.4 percent compared to 2022.
In particular, talking to the press after the press conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that in 2023, for the first time, 10.3 million tons of carbon emission reduction was transferred to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility - a global partnership of governments, businesses, civil society, and Indigenous Peoples focused on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, forest carbon stock conservation, the sustainable management of forests, and the enhancement of forest carbon through the World Bank (WB) with a total value of US$51.5 million.
The General Department of Forestry said that the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has so far received the first payment amount from the WB of US$41.2 million which was given to localities.
