Workshop views PPP as a long-term boost to agricultural development

Importance should be placed on perfecting mechanisms and policies aimed to enhance links among domestic firms and coordination between stakeholders in fostering public-private partnership (PPP) in Vietnam, said delegates at a workshop held in Hanoi on May 17.

PPP is reckoned a long-term approach to luring additional investment to the agricultural sector.

During the event themed “Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture in Vietnam (PSAV) General Meeting and PPP dialogue”, delegates pointed out an array of shortcomings in local agricultural development, including the uniform restructuring of the agriculture sector, underdeveloped processing, low labour productivity, economic inefficiency, and high consumption volatility.

These inadequacies are considered as headwinds that hinder businesses from investing in the development of value chains.

According to the PSAV, Vietnam needs to sketch out a long-term blueprint that adds importance to raising commitments by public and private sectors to their investment in agricultural projects.

Workshop participants reckoned PPP as a long-term approach to attracting additional investment to the agricultural sector.

They suggested that additional focus should be put on increasing agricultural production towards creating value chains and investment in deeply processed products, as well as improving the competitiveness and safety of agro products.

Marion Martinez from the PSAV, who is also CEO of the fertiliser production and trade firm Yara Vietnam, said that focus should be put on building linkages between farmers and businesses in order to jointly create value chains, based on the evaluation of models under the PSAV.

She urged the need to help farmers access quality agricultural inputs at reasonable prices and loans that are geared towards sustainable development.

Le Quoc Doanh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out the challenges facing the agricultural sector, including small-scale production and fragmented fields.

As the majority of agricultural exports are raw products, the added value of such items and the income of farmers fall short of expectations. Furthermore, climate change is another threat to agricultural development.

Doanh called for greater attempts into the research and application of new technologies in agricultural production with a hope of heightening the added value of farm produce and seeking for sustainable development.

He also underscored the leading role of enterprises in rearranging agricultural production and building value chains as well.

After nine years of operation in Vietnam, the PSAV has successfully run seven PPP working groups dedicated to developing commodity industries and it has recently set up another group for livestock industry.