Vietnam has been an important partner and worked closely with the WEF in various spheres, including the New Vision for Agriculture, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture Le Quoc Doanh (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) –Ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on ASEAN to be opened in Hanoi onSeptember 11, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Le Quoc Doanh has noted theoutcomes of agricultural ties between Vietnam and the WEF and future cooperationprospects.
Doanh said over the years, Vietnam has been animportant partner and worked closely with the WEF in various spheres, includingthe New Vision for Agriculture (NVA).
Joining this initiative in 2010, the country haspromoted partnerships between the State and the private sector throughpublic-private partnership (PPP) commodity-based working groups in thePartnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam (PSAV), aiming to achievesustainable growth in local agriculture.
So far, the PSAV has successfully implementedseven PPP working groups for coffee, tea, vegetables and fruits, aquatic products,pepper and spices, rice and agricultural chemicals, the official said.
These commodity-based working groups have alsopiloted farming models and expanded the cultivation of new varieties and theapplication of environmentally friendly techniques.
Nearly 220,000 farmers have been assisted totake part in demonstration farm models, received training and applied advancedfarming measures that meet sustainability standards.
Danh noted these models have satisfiedsocio-economic and environmental criteria of the 17 Sustainable DevelopmentGoals of the United Nations.
The WEF has recognised that PPP commodity-basedworking groups in Vietnam have generated good outcomes and are one of the mostsuccessful models of its NVA in Asia, he added.
The Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment is pressing on with an agricultural restructuring plan to improveagricultural products’ added values and step up sustainable development.
It is working to develop value chains in threegroups: the national key group with 10 commodities with export turnover of morethan 1 billion USD each, provincial key products and regional specialties. Promotingthese value chains aims to increase the quality and competitiveness ofVietnamese farm produce, ensure inclusive growth and protect the environment.
It is necessary to boost PPP-based production andinvestment models in agriculture, the Deputy Minister said.
Doanh added the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development wants the WEF, through the Grow Asia initiative, to continueassisting Vietnam’s agriculture to restructure.–VNA
VNA
