According to MARD’s report, 2008 is a bumper crop for the agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries in general with export revenues hitting US$15.4 billion, up 24.9 per cent on year.
But during the fourth quarter of this year, the exports facing a number of difficulties caused by the global crisis.
Prices of farm produce, seafood and forestry products have sharply dropped, resulting in a fall of 32 per cent to only US$1.2 billion in export revenue in November, down from US$1.75 billion in July.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said total import-export of the agricultural sector during 2008 is 1.8 times higher than its GDP, demonstrating that Vietnam is heavily-reliant on the health of global markets. Periods of financial instability in these markets tend to have an immediate and pronounced impact upon the lives and incomes of farmers.
During the seminar, economists and businesses agreed that Vietnam must strive to keep the development of agriculture sector and see it as a key factor in the development of the country.
They proposed a number of solutions to develop production levels, increase the regularity of forecasts and flow of information, expand into new markets, and ensure social security in rural areas in order to cope with the global crisis.
Head of the MARD’s Planning Department Trang Hieu Dung suggested the re-establishment of major export staples such as coffee, cashew nuts and tea within domestic markets.
He also stressed the importance of providing adequate social security measures, including the provision of capital to poor households to ensure continued production and an increase of national reserves with the aim of helping those affected to restore production levels in the event of natural disasters or epidemics. (Vietnam Economic Times, Saigon Liberation)
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