Raise the position and prestige of Vietnam’s agriculture

In the opening speech, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said, "In the context of contradictions and complicated fluctuations, no apparatus can overcome the situation by itself without the connection and synergy between inside and outside forces, between ministries, branches and agencies.

“In order to limit the risks caused by disruption, pandemic, and conflicts that are directly and indirectly affecting the national economy specifically the agricultural sector, we need to act together to gather enough information about the world, ensuring the mission of serving the country as well as agriculture, farmers and countrysides".

Minister Le Minh Hoan highly appreciated the presence of Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet and heads of overseas Vietnamese representative missions at the headquarters of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, raising expectations of cooperation between the parties, implementing effective strategies which have been approved by the Prime Minister.

Vietnam is facing big changes, that is climate change, even market change. Technical barriers and legal frameworks of importing countries are increasingly strictened. In each market, the host country will have different information regarding the market.

Minister Le Minh Hoan hoped that the heads of representative agencies will be the ones to bring that information to Vietnam so that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development can share it with domestic associations, industries and businesses. "We now do not only create ‘products’. We have to create ‘commercial products’, that is, products must reach difficult markets, surpassing the framework of conditions and standards of the target markets,” the leader of the agriculture sector said.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet highly regarded the performance and the achieved results of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in recent years. The Deputy Minister reaffirmed that agriculture is a spearheading economic sector, the pillar of Vietnam’s economy. This sector creates jobs for more than 36 million people across the country, contributing to the process of enhancing Vietnam's position and prestige in the international market.

Mentioning the cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet said that the two ministries have closely coordinated and accompanied in terms of market expansion, information, research, consultation and production promotion. Both sides have implemented many external activities to support the agricultural sector and achieve positive results. The prime example includes the two ministries’ coordination and implementation of tripartite cooperation models that are highly evaluated by countries worldwide.

On the occasion of this meaningful event, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet pointed out several crucial contents:

Firstly, the heads of overseas Vietnamese representative missions will perform the role of gathering information and grasping the market, especially on new regulations, policies, and consumption trends of foreign markets; directly establish connections with contact points of Vietnam in each country to facilitate thư work of information gathering.

Secondly, on the issue of promoting the role and attracting contributions from overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, the Deputy Minister said that the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese will study and organize activities to attract experts in the field of agriculture in the near future.

Thirdly, the heads of overseas Vietnamese representative missions will actively promote key agricultural products, specifically to all markets. “We really shouldn't distinguish large and small markets. Sometimes entering a small but prestigious market will build up confidence for other markets to express interest and import Vietnamese products. We also need to reach out to new markets because there is still plenty of fiscal space,” said Deputy Minister Do Hung Viet.

Fourthly, regarding the content of attracting FDI and ODA to support the development of the agricultural sector, the heads of overseas Vietnamese representative missions need to continue conducting high-level exchanges to go into specifics and protect the interests of the agricultural sector from products to workers, farmers, and fishermen.