The agriculture and rural development sector targets growth of 2.91-3% and agro-forestry-fishery exports of over US$42 billion in 2020.
Talking with the press, Minister Cuong said that the sector would have to battle this year, noting that saltwater intrusion has already begun to affect the winter-spring crop in the Mekong Delta, and African swine fever continues to menace.
Trade tensions will continue to cause fierce competition in the farm produce market since all countries want to develop domestic agricultural production, putting pressure on agricultural exporters like Vietnam.
Despite these problems, there remains room for agro-forestry-fishery export growth, he noted, adding that the ministry will assign tasks to its agencies to ensure tight coordination with localities and economic sectors to reach an export revenue of at least US$42 billion.
The target is high, but the agricultural sector will exert all efforts to achieve it, the minister said.
The General Statistics Office said the agro-forestry-fishery sector expanded 2.01% in 2019, contributing 4.6% to the year’s gross domestic production growth.
Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry estimated agro-forestry-fishery exports at US$41.3 billion, up 3.2% year on year.
