Agricultural products by state

Dragon fruit cultivation in Long An province (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Farming households in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta need to apply high-tech practices to develop value-added agricultural products that can enter global value chains, Le Minh Hoan, deputy minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said.

Hoan said it was vital to offer incentives and loans to farmers who use sustainable and climate-friendly production processes.

Millions of small-scale farming households , which are the most critically affected by climate change, need access to innovative technologies and practices as well as market information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global supply chains, posing risks to farmers and exporters of farm produce. The most affected products have been fresh fruits, vegetables and aquatic products, according to the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

To cope with the outbreak, major firms including the Loc Troi Group, Vingroup, PAN Group and Hoang Anh Gia Lai, have invested in high-tech applications.

Firms are also working with cooperatives and farming households to create “clean and safe food sources”. They are training farmers in brand management and offering technical and seed support to improve quality control during processing and before harvesting.

In the future, the Mekong Delta will face a growing population and rising urbanisation. Pollution, landslides, coastal erosion and loss of natural forest land are all expected to increase.

Because arable land and harvests will shrink worldwide, productivity and a sufficient supply of quality food must increase, while natural resources remain protected.

Since more than 70 percent of Vietnam’s agricultural products are from 22 million smallholder farmers, local agri-businesses should not depend solely on major corporations to promote innovative solutions, experts have said.

Other challenges include farmers’ limited capital. Switching to high-tech agriculture requires a considerable up-front investment.

Another major issue is market and consumer confidence. Building brands and winning customer confidence are essential for Vietnamese brands so they can take advantage of major export markets like the EU under the new EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

According to the White Book on Vietnamese Businesses 2020, the Mekong Delta currently has more than 55,000 enterprises, accounting for only 7.26 percent of the country’s total number.

Most of the businesses in the Mekong Delta region are small and medium-sized, and most lack long-term business strategies in technology investment, human resources training, and branding.

Amid deep global integration, Vietnamese products face strong competition from foreign-made goods.

Solutions must be identified, especially for smallholder farmers, to apply technology so they can enter mass markets. But it will take time to change farmers’ methods that have existed for hundreds of years, experts said.

Nguyen Minh Hai, deputy chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham), said that exporters should continue to take advantage of the EVFTA to boost agricultural products such as rice, seafood and fruit.

As many as 39 Vietnamese Geographical Indications (GIs) exist in the EU, providing an adequate framework for further promotion of imports of quality products, he said.

The EU maintains some of the highest sanitary, phytosanitary, origin tracing and sustainable standards in the world. Hai said that exporters should raise local standards and develop new value-added products to compete internationally, particularly in the EU with its population of 450 million.

The elimination of tariffs under the EVFTA is expected to benefit farm produce from the Mekong Delta , but technical barriers to trade will be raised, imposing challenges for products and services.

The Mekong Delta region contributes 54 percent of rice output, 70 percent of aquaculture output and 60 percent of fruit output to the country’s total output./.

The Hanoitimes – Hanoi said this year’s inspection focuses on hygiene procedures, quality and origin of food for Tet holiday, as well precautionary measures against Covid-19.

Hanoi has set up a cross-functional team to conduct inspection on food safety in the city ahead of the Lunar New Year or Tet holiday.

Cross-functional team takes sample in a company in Tay Ho District. Photo: Kinhtedothi

The team, led by Dr Tran Van Chung, deputy director of the municipal Department of Health, started its mission on January 12 in Tay Ho District where more than 1,600 food and beverage production establishments and restaurants are located.

The team has examined food safety and hygiene at 182 establishments, fined one establishment that breached hygiene procedures.

When working with local authorities, Dr Chung asked them to focus on goods of high demand for Tet and facilities at risk of unsafe practices, as well as supermarkets and wet markets.

Head of Hanoi’s Food Administration Division Tran Ngoc Tu said this year’s inspection focuses on hygiene procedures, quality and origin of food for Tet holiday, and precautionary measures against Covid-19 at food production and service facilities.

The body has asked establishments to disinfect regularly, screening temperature of customers, and preventive measures against the pandemic.

In the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s 2019 ranking, Hanoi topped localities nationwide in terms of the management of food safety over agro-forestry-fishery products.

In a research title “Consumer concern about food safety in Hanoi, Vietnam” by Thanh Mai Ha, Shamim Shakur, and Kim Hang Pham Do, customers express concerns over three factors namely pesticide residues, food preservatives, and hormone in livestock.

With a limited capacity to self-supply food and weaker social and kinship networks, urban consumers’ concerns over food safety, therefore, was higher than their rural counterparts, the authors said in the research.

The Hanoitimes – Under the revised regulation, local oil and petrol traders are now allowed to transfer their stakes to foreign investors but foreign ownership should not exceed 35%.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has proposed the government to allow foreign investors to join the local petroleum retail market, local media reported.

Vietnam trade ministry proposes opening the petroleum market for foreign enterprises.

The move is part of the revised version of the government’s Decree No.83 on petrol and oil trading, which has been submitted to the government for approval.

Under the revised regulation, local oil and petrol traders are now allowed to transfer their stakes to foreign investors but foreign ownership should not exceed 35%.

According to the MoIT, the timing of opening the market for foreign investors has been considered thoroughly, particularly as petroleum products are strategic that directly affect national energy security.

The MoIT said since Vietnam’s entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007, the country did not commit to open the domestic petroleum retail market in order to support the development of local firms. After 13 years, Vietnam has now opened its doors to foreign investors in the majority of fields, including electricity, aviation and oil.

The MoIT referred to foreign participation in a number of major state firms with government approval, including PetroVietnam Oil Corporation (PVOil) at 35%, Binh Son Refinery and Petrochemical (BSR) at 49%, and Petrolimex at 20%. Foreign holdings have helped significantly improve their respective corporate governance.

A senior official from the MoIT told Thanh Nien the foreign ownership limit set at 35% would restrict the influence of foreign investors to domestic firms, especially regarding veto rights. Meanwhile, this limit would help local firms to attract capital, technologies and acquire high level of corporate governance.

A shareholder with a share of 36% or more has veto power in a Vietnamese company.