On the last working day of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture reported a series of new records.
On the last working day of 2023, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien reported a series of good news that the industry had achieved, including a series of records set.
Many records were set
At the press conference on the results of work in 2023 and tasks and solutions for 2024 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on the afternoon of December 29, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien informed that in the context of many difficulties and challenges, especially in the export market of forestry and aquatic products, the added value of the entire agricultural sector (GDP) increased sharply, estimated at 3.83%. This is the highest growth rate in the past 10 years. Accordingly, agriculture continues to affirm its important position as a pillar of the economy. Of which, rice output reached 43.4 million tons, an increase of 1.7% compared to 2022; output of fresh meat of all kinds reached 7.6 million tons, an increase of 3.5%; aquatic product output reached 9.3 million tons, an increase of 2.9%...
Total export turnover of the entire agricultural sector this year reached 53.01 billion USD. Trade surplus reached a record 12.07 billion USD, up 43.7% and accounting for over 42.5% of the country's trade surplus.
A series of agricultural export products increased to record highs such as: Vegetables and fruits reached 5.69 billion USD, up 69.2%; rice reached 4.78 billion USD, up 38.4%; coffee reached 4.18 billion USD, up 3.1%...
In addition to the above record numbers, this year the agricultural sector successfully organized the International Rice Festival; Vietnam's ST25 rice won the World's Best Rice award for the second time; the Project on Sustainable Development of 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030 was approved by the Government.
For the first time, the Vietnamese forestry sector successfully transferred 10.3 million tons of CO2 to the World Bank, earning nearly VND1,250 billion, helping forest owners have additional income.
“Those of us working in the agricultural sector feel very happy about the numbers the industry has achieved this year,” Mr. Tien said.
Target of 54-55 billion USD, need to pivot flexibly
At the press conference, Mr. Nguyen Van Viet - Director of the Planning Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that in 2024, the industry targets a GDP growth rate of 3-3.5%, with total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products of about 54-55 billion USD.
According to Mr. Viet, in 2024, the agricultural sector is forecast to continue to face many difficulties and challenges, especially in terms of export markets, epidemics and potential risks when there are unusual rains and floods, droughts, and severe water shortages due to the impact of El Nino...
This is experience for the market in the coming year. Therefore, to achieve the export target, it is necessary to identify the key market for the coming year, Mr. Tiep emphasized.
Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien assessed that good export signals of a number of product lines will create a premise for the agricultural sector to accelerate exports in 2024.
In 2023, the market structure has changed. Exports to the Chinese market accounted for 22.3%, while the proportion of exports to the US decreased. Durian exports at the beginning of the year were forecast to reach more than 1 billion USD, but ended the year at 2.25 billion USD.
In the future, export turnover to China will increase even more when we sign a protocol to export frozen durian, coconut and seafood to this market. Currently, our country has 7 enterprises licensed to export bird's nest products to China.
According to Deputy Minister Tien, we pivoted very quickly and flexibly in management and production. While seafood and forestry exports declined, we boosted the export of vegetables, rice and other agricultural products, contributing to the industry's annual export result of 53 billion USD.
He emphasized that the market is the driving force. The production structure must be flexible to meet market demand. If we can do that, we will achieve the export target of 54-55 billion USD next year.
