Many farm businesses have gone bankruptcy due to serious impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and natural disasters such as drought, saline intrusion and floods, Mr. Vu Tien Loc, the Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has said.

High-tech is seen as solutions for Vietnam’s agriculture future. Photo: enternews

“High-tech application should not be seen as a short-term solution, but the orientation for the future of the sector,” Mr. Loc was speaking at the forum “Ecosystem development: Supporting agricultural enterprises to apply high technology” held in Hanoi this week.

“We are facing with the shortage of hi-tech application in farm production, which requires the tight coordination among ministries, branches and local governments to issue preferential policies for the development of hi-tech application,” Mr. Loc said.

A representative from the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank)  said cumbersome lending procedures and lack of criteria for assessing high-tech farming projects have hampering the hi-tech application process in the agriculture sector.

The bank official wanted international credit institutions to share experiences with Vietnamese banks on extending loans to high-tech farm supply chain. 

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh, Vice Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union emphasized the importance of building a connection between businesses and farmers to develop sustainable agriculture.

In term of foreign hi-tech agriculture applied in Vietnam, Mr. Dinh said it not really suitable for the environment and climate, possibly leading to ineffectiveness. “Therefore, it is needed to push up research on advanced technologies and materials for local agriculture sector.”

“Hi-tech projects should be suitable with the characteristics of each locality,” Mr. Dinh added.

At the forum, participants also attached much importance to the development of logistics infrastructure for farm and aquaculture exports.