In order to boost exports of agricultural products, it’s necessary to focus on improvement of quality. (Photo: Thang Van www.ktdt.vn)

(VOVworld) – In the first six months of this year, the revenue of Vietnam's agricultural exports increased by 14% against the same period last year. However the sector faces many challenges due to a decline in export prices, instability in importing markets, and trade barriers. To achieve the set target of 26 billion USD this year, the domestic agricultural sector will need to make more effort in the remaining months. VOV has more.

In the first 6 months, the agricultural sector achieved a growth rate of 2.8% higher than its set target, of which, earnings from the exports of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products was nearly 5.3 billion dollars. The export turnover of these products fetched approximately USD 13.6 billion, 14% more than a year ago, contributing to a surplus of USD 5.7 billion for the whole agricultural sector. But Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cao Duc Phat, says from now to the year’s end, the global consumer market will continue to meet a lot of difficulties.

The fall in Vietnamese agricultural exports is attributed to an erratic development and countries’ protecting their own domestic brands. Tra catfish is the most typical example. Many tra processors and producers have been operating at half capacity, or even stopped their operations because of substantial losses, which are mainly blamed for the tightening of credits from banks.  Doan Toi, Director General of the Vietnam Joint Stock Company, said that it’s necessary to have more involvement from the Government to raise the price of tra fish and to help tra processors access capital to ensure production. Experts in the field say there is also a need for these enterprises to develop more comprehensive development strategies in terms of production scale, quality, branding, and markets. Toi says ‘Priority should be given to companies that can bring high revenues for the country. One of the solutions is to offer them low interest rates, to boost production. It’s a positive signal from the Government, financing businesses in the agricultural sector’.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is focusing on several measures to remove obstacles and follow on developments in other markets, to inform farmers when to make changes in production. The Ministry has recommended that the Government outlines support policies for key agricultural products, restructures production scales, and speeds up the application of modern science and technologies to lower production costs. The Ministry will help enterprises to deal with trade hurdles, while businesses are being called to develop new markets. China is an example. China is a major market with tastes similar to Vietnam. Nguyen Quoc Hai is in charge of the import – export management team in Lang Son province, under the Ministry of Trade and Industry ‘The drop in exports is partly due to our haphazard organization in terms of loose-fitting plans and agreements, which cause economic hurdles for Vietnamese exporters. Vietnamese companies need to keep a keen eye on this market and invest more in China in specific sectors to ensure the interests of domestic enterprises’.

Vinh Phong