MARD forms a working group to coordinate agricultural products supply in the South

MARD Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam leads the working group on coordinating production and connecting supplies for agricultural consumption in Southern provinces and cities, while MARD Chief of Office Le Van Thanh serves as deputy leader.

The remaining 12 members of the working groups are all MARD officials including Director Nguyen Quoc Toan of Agricultural Products Processing and Development Department; Director-General of Directorate of Fisheries Tran Dinh Luan; Acting Director of the Department of Livestock Production Duong Tat Thang; MARD’s Deputy-Chief of Office in charge of the South Le Viet Binh; Deputy Director of Department of Crop Production Le Thanh Tung; Deputy Director of Plant Protection Department Le Van Thiet; Deputy Department of Animal Health Nguyen Van Long; Deputy Director of National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department Le Ba Anh; Director of Trade Promotion Center for Agriculture Dao Van Ho; Editor in Chief of Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper Nguyen Ngoc Thach; Director Nguyen Anh Dung of the Agricultural Products Processing and Development Sub-Department I and Director Tran Minh Hai of the Center for Cooperative Economics - School of Management of Agriculture and Rural Development II.

The working group will assist the Minister in guiding the production and connection of agricultural goods under the Ministry's control. Three specific tasks include coordinating with provinces and cities in the Southern region, the Central Highlands region, the South Central region, and other relevant localities to promote agricultural production and harvest, and to ensure agricultural product demand in the southern regions, which have adopted a social distancing strategy in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Directing local agriculture and rural development departments to evaluate seasonal production plans to verify they are consistent with agricultural product consumption plans; create agricultural product consumption plans in a timely way to react to the Covid-19 epidemic.

Collaborating with other ministries, departments, and local governments to guide the execution of solutions that boost the supply and consumption of agricultural goods that meet the basic requirements of residents in Covid-19's hardest-hit regions. Conducting research and suggesting answers to difficulties that exceed one's ability.

Le Minh Hoan, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, asked that the Head of the Working Group, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam, report to him weekly on the Working Group's actions. Additionally, the Minister designated the Ministry's representative office in Ho Chi Minh City as the Working Group's permanent unit, assisting the Team Leader in coordinating and implementing operations.

The working group to assist agricultural products in the South is a last-ditch attempt suggested by MARD after a meeting with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on July 18 to guarantee the South's access to vital commodities.

At the moment, 19 provinces and cities in this area have implemented Prime Minister's Directive 16 on social distance within 14 days to fight the epidemic. This is the second time since the Covid-19 epidemic began in Vietnam that dozens of provinces and cities have implemented the pandemic containment order concurrently.