Aspiration of Lai Chau’s agriculture

On April 7, at the Lai Chau Provincial Administrative Center, the Lai Chau Provincial People’s Committee and the VAN News held a working session on organizing the conference.

The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Ha Trong Hai, Vice Chairman of the Lai Chau Provincial People’s Committee, and Mr. Le Trong Dam, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the VAN News, with the participation of representatives from relevant departments and agencies, as well as the newspaper’s delegation.

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dong, Deputy Director of the Lai Chau Department of Agriculture and Environment, reported that the province has developed a plan to organize the conference to clarify orientations for sustainable agricultural development aligned with the green transition, the circular economy, and climate change adaptation.

The conference will focus on assessing the potential and advantages of key agricultural products, particularly medicinal plants, while identifying bottlenecks in production, processing, and consumption. Based on this, participants will propose solutions to enhance value addition and improve linkages across the entire value chain from production to market.

In addition, the program is expected to serve as a platform connecting management agencies, scientists, businesses, cooperatives, and farmers, thereby promoting collaboration, attracting investment, and expanding markets for local agricultural products.

A representative of the Lai Chau Department of Agriculture and Environment emphasized that the conference content will closely follow the province’s practical context, focusing on feasible solutions in production organization, processing, consumption, and product promotion, while ensuring a formal, effective, and cost-efficient organization.

Appreciating the aspirations as well as the potential and advantages of Lai Chau’s agriculture, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Le Trong Dam noted that this is the second time the Ministry has coordinated with Lai Chau Province to organize a thematic conference on agriculture, reflecting the close attention of the Ministry’s leadership to local agricultural development issues.

According to Mr. Dam, the conference should not stop at identifying potential but go further to become a policy dialogue forum, where specific local challenges are “put on the table” and addressed with the direct participation of ministries and sectors.

“Lai Chau has clear advantages in ecology and forest resources. If production is organized along green lines, linking medicinal plants with the forest-based economy, the province can create distinctive value chains that both protect forests and increase local incomes,” he added.

The Deputy Editor-in-Chief also emphasized that the conference needs to clearly convey messages about the investment environment, policy mechanisms, and development potential so that businesses can recognize long-term opportunities in the medicinal plant sector.

In particular, with ginseng and other indigenous medicinal plants, Lai Chau could position itself as a specialized production area if it builds a closed value chain from cultivation and processing to trade. Therefore, the organizing committee plans to invite representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to support the development of product standards, market expansion, and sustainable market linkages.

Expressing confidence in, and expectations for, continued coordination with the VAN News, Vice Chairman Ha Trong Hai stressed that the upcoming conference should not only be a platform for sharing experiences but also serve as a “guiding force” in shaping the province’s agricultural development strategy.

According to Mr. Hai, the presentations and policy recommendations must be truly relevant and well-targeted, closely aligned with production realities, thereby helping the province develop mechanisms with strong spillover effects and enabling both people and businesses to invest with confidence in the long term.

According to Mr. Ha Trong Hai, the overarching goal of Lai Chau is to develop a high value-added commodity agriculture while reducing emissions and adapting to the green economy trend. To achieve this, the province needs a clear set of criteria to standardize production areas and establish production “models” that farmers can uniformly apply, thereby improving the quality and competitiveness of agricultural products.

He also requested that relevant departments and agencies closely coordinate with the VAN News in providing updated data and planning information, ensuring that the conference fully reflects the province’s potential, advantages, and development orientations. Resolutions and policies should be presented concisely, directly, and in an accessible manner so that businesses and people can quickly grasp the message and the province’s determination to pursue green and sustainable agricultural development.

Based on local realities, the provincial leadership also expressed a desire for stronger support from central ministries and sectors in shaping green economic models, particularly solutions for sustainable livestock development associated with emissions reduction, as well as specific guidance to address existing bottlenecks.

For distinctive products such as Lai Chau ginseng, he proposed accelerating the issuance of planting area codes and promoting research projects to include the product in the pharmacopeia, thereby enhancing its value and market position. At the same time, the province aims to develop an agroforestry economy in a multi-value direction, harmonizing medicinal plants, cultivation, and eco-tourism, while still requiring support from experts and organizations to address implementation challenges.

On behalf of the provincial People’s Committee, Mr. Ha Trong Hai expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and the Vietnam Agriculture and Nature Newspaper for their coordination and agreement on organizing the conference. Lai Chau Province is committed to making thorough preparations to ensure the program is conducted as planned and delivers substantive results.

The Conference on the Development of Commodity Agriculture and Medicinal Plants in line with a Green Economy in Lai Chau Province is expected to be held in late April 2026 in Lai Chau, with the participation of representatives from ministries, sectors, associations, and Northwestern provinces. The event is expected to gather more than 500 delegates, both in person and online.

The entire conference program will be broadcast live on the multimedia platforms of the VAN News.