The Ministry of Industry and Trade has submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister to lengthen the availability of the interest-rate support package for farmers for six months

An artisan in Quat Dong commune of Ha Noi’s Thuong Tin district completes a handicraft product. Producers will be given support packages to promote their business.

The ministry proposes to list 20 new kinds of equipment and machines that can be bought with the support package, including that used for agro-forestry, seacooking processing and handicraft production.

The ministry has also suggested the Government offer interest-rate support on imported equipment and machines instead of only locally-made products because local supplies were limited.

The latest move follows shortcomings that prevented some farmers from getting loans to promote agricultural production. Therefore, although the decision came into effect in April, the number of farmers benefiting has been limited.

Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in northern Vinh Phuc province, said the programme had not been promoted sufficiently in rural areas.

“Loan procedures are too complicated for farmers, thus no one seems particularly interested even though they need loans to expand production,” Thanh said.

“To get interest-rate support for their loans, farmers need to meet many requirements, such as having assets to put up as security,” he added.

Meanwhile, farmers can only buy products from certain shops that are registered for the scheme. They must also only buy locally-made products, Thanh said.

The Government therefore should lengthen the life of the support package to enable farmers to get better access to loans, he said.

Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc, a farmer in Phuoc Hai commune, Ninh Phuoc district, central Ninh Thuan province, said she was keen on the support package, but loan procedures were too complicated and the machinery her family needed was not covered.

Deputy Head of the Market and Price Research Institute Vu Dinh Anh said the most important thing was to simplify loan procedures and have guidelines to help farmers get easier access to loans.

“Farmers have limited academic levels and many complained they found it hard to get access to loans because of a shortage of information about the package and loan procedures,” Anh said.

Reasons

He said other reasons to lengthen the term of the package were that agricultural production could be a lengthy process and because farmers also needed time to consider before applying for a big loan.

Vice chairman of the National Assembly’s Finance and Budget Committee, Dinh Van Nha, said a survey on operation of businesses and households in rural areas found that many still needed short-term loans and that lengthening the term of the support package would help them.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News