December 31, 2008

Vietnam urged to improve agricultural sector in 2009

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged the country's agriculture sector to improve forecasts and use of statistics to boost production and exports next year.

Dung made the requirement at a conference in Hanoi on Monday (Dec 29) which discussed the sector's plans for 2009.

Dung pointed out several of the sector's weaknesses, such as unstable development, low competitiveness and problems relating to food safety, which need to be solved next year.

The food security was ensured and export revenue of major products such as shrimp and catfish exceeded US$1 billion.

Dung also praised the development of the agriculture sector for its remarkable growth of production in 2008 compared to 2007 despite difficulties such as world price fluctuations, rising input prices and severe weather conditions earlier this year.

Vietnam has set a target for the meat production to reach 3.75 million tonnes and the production of shrimp and fish at 4.6 million tonnes in 2009.