VietNamNet Bridge – A new agricultural development strategy was needed for the next 12 years, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, said yesterday.

“Our agricultural sector has been developing along with the country’s process of international integration, industrialisation and urbanisation”.

The minister was speaking at a meeting in Ha Noi to plan an agricultural strategy from now until 2020.

Favourable

Phat said his ministry would create favourable conditions for the establishment of a stronger development institute.

According to IPSARD director Dang Kim Son, the institute could become the leading provider of analysis and policy-advice services for the Government and private sector on agriculture and rural development.

Son said there were plans to increase the IPSARD’s research activities and services, and provide consultancy services and training.

He said the institute hoped to diversify services for all kinds of customers, from short-term to long-term policy consultants, and make its service quality on a par with international standards.

“Our agricultural sector has been developing along with the country’s process of international integration, industrialisation and urbanisation,” Son said.

“(But) this is accompanied by serious environmental problems, a changing global climate and degraded natural resources.”

He asked for the agricultural ministry’s support to reform the institute and its infrastructure, capacity building and equipment.

“The ministry should handle problems related to institutional and administrative procedures,” he said.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Viet Thang said while Viet Nam was stepping into a period of comprehensive international integration, market competition and the global finance crisis had brought new challenges to agriculture.

This meant the sector had to boost the competitiveness of agricultural products, maintain high growth rates and change investment structures.

He asked the IPSARD steering committee to build the right policies for future years - and to make more accurate forecasts.

At the meeting, agricultural experts said Vietnamese agriculture had developed around exports and the international market.

They said as the world suffered from the financial crisis and climate change, Vietnamese agricultural policy makers had to constantly monitor and adjust mechanisms and policies.

According to experts, Viet Nam’s agriculture is challenged by a shortage of strategy and the slow adjustment of policies.

(Source: Viet Nam News)