Speaking at a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on December 31 to set agricultural tasks for next year, PM Dung stressed that the restructuring of Vietnam’s agriculture and new rural construction should aim at getting the most benefits for farmers.
Agricultural restructuring targets a higher added value and higher income for agricultural workers to narrow the gap between rural and urban areas, the leader said.
According to the PM, restructuring agriculture can only succeed as scientific and technological advances are applied with focus on extensive application of biotechnology and IT in production, management and acceleration of agricultural and rural industrialisation and modernisation.
He urged to diversify agricultural co-operation models especially between farmers and enterprises in manufacturing and services to gradually develop high-tech agricultural-industrial-service complexes towards multifunctional agricultural production and sustainable development.
Agricultural sector should focus on preferential mechanisms and policies to attract more rural investment, particularly in agricultural production, industry and services, while more attention should be paid to agricultural processing and labour-intensive fields to generate jobs for rural workers.
The PM also called for more investment in rural infrastructure and vocational training and effective implementation of sustainable poverty reduction programmes and disaster risk management and climate change adaptation plans.
At the event, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat reported that the sector grew by 2.67% this year to closely match the 2.68% rise in 2012.
The sector targets a growth of 2.6-3% and a 3.1-3.5% rise in production value in 2014 with agro-forestry-fishery exports are expected to hit US$28.5 billion and the rate of forest coverage to reach 41.5%.
