Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh made the statement while attending the second National Food Systems Summit Dialogue themed “Vietnam Food Systems: Transparency, Responsibility, Sustainability” which opened in Hanoi on July 16.
Emphasising that Vietnam is deeply aware of the need for close coordination among nations and other factors in the food system in order to create extensive and intensive changes, Politburo member and Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh noted that such coordination will help Vietnam perform better in poverty reduction and ensurefood security and nutrition in rural and ethnic minority areas as well as amongst vulnerable groups, particularly women and children.
The Deputy PM added that despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the agricultural sector was able to post a growth rate of 2.68% in 2020. Besides ensuring food security for nearly 100 million Vietnamese, the sector also gained an important place in the global food system. Vietnam earned US$41.53 billion from the export of agro-fishery-forestry products in 2020, and US$24.23 billion in the first half of 2021.
The Vietnamese Government also pays attention to digital technology and innovation in agriculture with the goal of raising productivity, improving food safety and connecting producers with consumers, he noted.
Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan called on functional sectors to support farmers’ organisations at the grassroots level so as to act as the core for linking agricultural value chains in order to ensure the balance of interests of farmers, as well as promote agricultural value chain linkage in a responsible, transparent and sustainable manner.
UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam Kamal Malhotra said the UN will accompany the Vietnamese Government, along with its development partners, to transform the food system, contributing to realising the Sustainable Development Goals.
World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Carolyn Turk also affirmed that the WB and other development partners are willing to work together with the Vietnamese Government and the private sector in the transformation process.
The second National Food Systems Summit Dialogue, held jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, a number of other ministries, the UN in Vietnam and international development partners, was among a series of events to prepare the nation for Vietnam's attendance at the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021.
