VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called for more support from international communities to complete programmes for new rural development initiatives in localities.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development yesterday called for more support from international communities to complete programmes for new rural development initiatives in localities.— Illustrative image/Photo qtv

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that priority should be given to six fields, including raising income for rural residents, improving their cultural and spiritual life, applying environment protection methods, and attracting private capital to the rural sector.

At the meeting held by the ministry and the International Support Group on May 15, he said that policies and measures to implement the programmes should be reviewed, especially those related to agricultural production and an increase in income of rural people.

Phat also noted that more research and analysis of real-life situations should be conducted to help work out better policies.

International experience was very important, he said therefore, more dialogues would be carried out among partners involved to share difficulties and challenges.

Nguyen Minh Tien, deputy director of the ministry's Economic Co-operation Department said, most new rural development planning produced by localities only focused on infrastructure construction, without paying attention to production promotion, environment and culture preservation.

Some solutions suggested in the plans failed to prove their feasibility, Tien added.

Jean-Marc Gravellini, director of the French Development Agency (AFD), said in the 2013-15 period, the agency would help Viet Nam to modernise its production sectors which provide negative impact on the environment, increase agricultural productivity and foster high-quality vocational training.

Henning Pedersen, Country Programme Manager of the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) in Viet Nam, said new rural development initiatives had been succeeding in mobilising resources for infrastructure construction, but issues related to poverty and hunger had not been addressed.

IFAD suggested the Vietnamese Government encourage the participation of the private sector in the new rural development process, improve financial services for rural people and creating favourable conditions for farmers to take part in the value chain.

Source: VNS