During a meeting with the Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) today, PM Nguyen Tan Dung called upon the sector to consider processing industry as an orientation for its future development in the face of the global shrinking demand.

It is necessary for VRG to plan rubber-growing areas, apply scientific advances to planting and processing rubber products, and expand the trade in the international markets, said the Government chief.

The Government’s leaders also agreed on the Group’s proposal to transform its subsidiaries into single-member limited liability companies which will be equitized soon.

At the meeting, the State Bank of Vietnam vowed to finance VRG’s rubber projects in the Central Highlands, Northwest, Laos and Cambodia.

Together with rice and coffee, rubber is widely known as a crop of competitive advantage and a measure for poverty reduction in Vietnam.

Among 600,000 hectares of rubber in Vietnam, VRG owns 260,000.

Last year, the consumption volume of rubber was 326,000 tons.

VietNamNet/CP