Maintaining the "flow" of agricultural exports, especially to China

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Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien

From the beginning of the year to the end of May 2021, the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products achieved positive results despite the fourth Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam. What helped Vietnamese agricultural products achieve this feat?

In the first five months of the year, the total import-export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products was estimated at US$42.4 billion. In which, exports were estimated at US$22.83 billion, up 30.3% over the same period last year. In May 2021 alone, export turnover is estimated at US$5.01 billion, up 40.2% compared to May 2020.

Notably, in the first five months of the year, many products/product groups sawincreased export value, includingrubber, tea, rice, vegetables and fruits, pepper, cashew nuts, cassava and cassava products, livestock products, catfish, shrimp, wood products, rattan, bamboo, sedge mats, cinnamon, etc. In which, rubber, tea, vegetable and fruit groups, cashew nuts, cassava and cassava products increased in volume and export value.

It is the initiative and positivity of businesses in expanding markets under the support and facilitation of the functional sector that contributed to this feat.

Currently, Covid-19 has been and continues to be complicated in Vietnam. This makes export markets, especially the Chinese market, able to apply stricter control measures to agricultural, forestry and fishery products imported from Vietnam. Could you tell usmore about solutions to maintain a stable "flow" of agricultural exports?

In 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, there were times when goods were stagnant on the border gate in large quantities, causing damage to businesses. Immediately, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development worked with the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam and trade counselors to discuss and propose border provinces to arrange forces to easecustoms clearance time.

In addition, the Ministry has dispatched provinces to give priority to seasonal agricultural products to be cleared first. Thanks to that, exports still take place normally.

This year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also took the initiative early, setting up working groups to work with border provinces to promote customs clearance and create a "green channel" for agricultural products.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has also recently sent an official dispatch to ministries and branches such as: Transport, Health, Public Security, and Finance, asking border gates to organize clearance channels, giving priority to agricultural products when it is time to harvest the main crop; prolong working time, create favorable conditions for administrative procedures.

In addition, reviewing taxes and fees, and taking measures to reduce transportation costs (such as reducing tolls; reducing service fees at border gates and seaports) to reduce transportation and cargo clearance costs; interested in implementing a mechanism to prioritize early vaccination for drivers transporting and delivering goods.

In addition to promoting exports, domestic consumption is also an important solution that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has been promoting recently, especially the model of connecting and consuming safe agricultural products that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has combined with three units of Farmers' Union, Women's Union, Youth Union deployed at the beginning of June 2021. How do you evaluate the prospects of this model?

Recently, the Ministry has held an online conference with localities to discuss solutions to promote agricultural product consumption in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is focusing on solutions to promote quick consumption of agricultural products that are in the main harvest such as lychee. Photo: Nguyen Thanh

Besides, promoting the consumption of agricultural products at reputable e-commerce platforms such as: Alibaba, Amazon, Sendo, Voso, Shopee; actively create conditions for Chinese traders to enter, negotiate and purchase lychee; promote negotiations with other countries to connect and promote the export of fruits and seafood to China, Thailand, and the EU.

For the domestic market, in order to no longer have images of agricultural products that have to be rescued, distort the market, and hurt farmers, the Ministry has coordinated with mass organizations to launch connection points for agricultural product consumption, and at the same time promote stronger sales on digital technology platforms.

This model of supply-demand connection is more formal and professional, both providing good products, ensuring quality and origin for consumers, and cherishing the value of Vietnamese agricultural products. Sales points are designed and distributed according to Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control standards. The slogan given for this supply-demand connection model is: "Treasure the value of Vietnamese agricultural products, share and connect with love to overcome the pandemic".