The statement was made by Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, at a forum on thepromotion of Vietnamese agricultural production and consumption held in Hanoi on March 5.
He also noted that 2019 is an important and breakthrough year to fulfill the five year plan of 2016-2020. The Government has assigned the target of GDP growth rate at over 3.0%, production value of over 3.11% and export turnover of US$43 billion for the sector.
In order to achieve the target, it is crucial to strongly implement agricultural restructuring and develop production structure with three main product lines: national flagship products, provincialflagship products and local specialties, added the Minister.
Minister Cuong stressed the renovation and development of production organisation forms and concentrated raw material areas, as well as the enhancement of linkages among cooperatives and the attraction of more investment in building chains of supermarkets, convenience stores and markets to promote consumption in the domestic market.
In 2018, the agricultural sector achieved a GDP growth rate of 3.76%, production value of 3.86% and a record of US$40.02 billion in export turnover with a trade surplus of around US$8.72 billion.
