The time of "asking and giving" in agricultural investment is over

The number increased dramatically.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the number of agricultural enterprises has increased sharply in recent years (from 2,397 enterprises in 2007 to 7,033 enterprises in 2017, an increase of 2.93 times), with a capital of 213,394.9 billion VND. By the end of 2018, more than 8,000 enterprises had invested in the industry. Many enterprises have become the core of the agricultural value chain and high-tech agricultural production, market development.

Fruit and vegetable production using scraping technology at a business in Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. Photo: Ba Hoat

It is worth noting that many large corporations have seen the great potential of agriculture and have boldly opened new directions, especially in the field of high-tech application such as TH True milk, VinEco (VinGroup Corporation),...

"Clearly, the opportunities for businesses to return to agriculture and rural areas are huge. The number of businesses has increased sharply in recent years, especially in 2018 when 16 more businesses invested in the fruit processing sector with a total value of VND 8,700 billion, showing that the agricultural sector has great potential."

Dr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan

Speaking at the 2019 Business Forum accompanying agriculture, farmers and rural areas, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang affirmed that in order to create a favorable and equal environment for investors in agriculture and rural areas, many investment incentive policies and mechanisms have been issued.

For example, regarding investment and business conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has drastically reduced and implemented the provision of online public administrative services at level 4, reducing nearly 80% of the list of goods subject to specialized inspection before customs clearance in the past year. In particular, Decree No. 57/2018 on mechanisms and policies to encourage enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas has opened up many opportunities for enterprises with flexible regulations such as enterprises with agricultural projects are exempted from land use conversion fees for land areas used to build houses for workers working at the project, and exempted from land use fees for that land area after conversion.

Capital and land - two bottlenecks that need to be solved

In fact, currently, localities have mechanisms and policies to invite businesses to invest. Dr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan - Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural and Rural Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) shared that, in a discussion with the leaders of Binh Dinh province, Mr. Phan Trong Ho - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Dinh province frankly said that now there is no longer a "request - give" mechanism for businesses, but localities must find every way to invite businesses to invest.

However, according to representatives of many enterprises, despite new policies and mechanisms, enterprises still face many difficulties that need to be resolved when investing in agriculture, especially in accessing credit capital and land accumulation.

Responding to the recommendations of enterprises, Mr. Ngo Minh Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Enterprise Development (Ministry of Planning and Investment) affirmed that the Government has directed to continue perfecting policies and mechanisms to attract enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas, including strengthening support measures, unblocking capital flows, resolving land problems, and creating conditions for enterprises to participate in trade promotion activities.

“Vietnam is being evaluated as a country with potential for innovative start-up businesses, especially in the agricultural sector, so in the coming time, start-up businesses will also receive a lot of attention,” Mr. Cuong affirmed.