Vietnam must elevate itself to become one of the world’s top 15 most developed agricultural nations and move into the top ten in terms of the ability to process agro-produce, said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

The premier made the request at a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Thursday to announce the country’s industrial goals for 2019.

He urged the agriculture sector to grow by at least three percent and achieve a turnover value of US$42-43 billion.

The PM asked the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to create incentives for the industry and continue finding ways to promote innovations that can help reach its target numbers.

“This is a difficult and challenging task. If we don’t achieve it, we can’t improve lives”, PM Phuc stressed.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc delivers remarks at a conference in Hanoi, January 3, 2019. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The premier elaborated that in order to achieve these goals, the industry should apply new technology and encourage innovation, thereby building a brand for Vietnam’s agricultural products.

He underlined that a lesson must be learned from several instances over the past few years of local consumers being encouraged to ‘rescue’ farmers by buying up surplus agricultural produce.

At Thursday’s meeting, PM Phuc highlighted outstanding achievements of the agriculture ministry over the past 12 months but he underscored that it must continue to improve itself.

The sector's drawbacks over the past year include the facts that the agricultural restructuring process was not implemented synchronously in many localities and that the innovation and development of new forms of production did not meet the requirements set out by the central government.

“Environmental pollution in rural areas and a high rate of post-harvest loss are also issues to be resolved,” he added.

In 2019, the agricultural sector aims to introduce smart agriculture to farmers which can be internationally integrated, deal with climate change issues, and maintain sustainable development.

The whole industry is expected to achieve a growth rate of over three percent, with production values expected to rise more than 3.11 percent and export turnover to surpass $43 billion.

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