Experts welcome shift in credit policy for hi-tech agriculture

However, they warn that without detailed implementation instructions, the move will not be effective.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has set aside a credit package of VND50-60 trillion (US$2.2-2.6 billion) to encourage local farmers and enterprises to develop hi-tech agriculture.
Several experts and representatives of enterprises spoke to the Nong Thon Ngay Nay (Today Countryside) newspaper this week about the new policy.
Do Ha Nam, General Director of Intimex Import-Export Joint Stock Company in HCM City, said agriculture firms need significant working capital, but accessing this has proved difficult.
“There must be large credit packages with easy, simple borrowing conditions so that agriculture firms like Intimex are able to use them,” he said.
“Vietnamese agriculture must be treated on par with other industries,” he said.
To ensure efficiency, performance conditions can be set, he said.
For instance, individuals or units should be able to create production values of at least VND50 million per hectare to get permission to invest in the sector, he added.
Tran Ba Duong, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of the Truong Hai Automobile Company, which is interested in agriculture, said the sector cannot grow without applying the “industry in agriculture” model.
Capital access, organizational and management skills are needed for hi-tech agriculture to grow, he said.
“Harvesting, transportation and post-harvest processes currently suffer huge losses and low quality of Vietnamese farm produce,” Duong said, suggesting that a post-harvest industrial complex be set for rice production.
Vo Quan Huy, Director of the Huy Long An Company in Long An Province, said one of the biggest difficulties faced by the Vietnamese farmer is mortgage. They are unable to mortgage their produce, factories and farms as collateral, according to the regulation, he said, adding that the amount of money they can borrow is a fraction of real demand.
“In terms of the VND50 trillion credit package for agriculture, the State Bank of Vietnam must ‘open its arms’ to enterprises and help them with easier access to larger loans.”