SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said high-tech agricultural development programmes, as well as agricultural production in value chain to increase added value, will be prioritised as part of the agricultural shake-up project.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) will promote credit programmes to support agricultural production.

Currently, 70 commercial banks, more than 1,100 people’s credit funds and the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) provide loans for rural economic development. Credit services are available even in mountainous and remote areas thanks to the mobile banking models of the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) and transaction offices of the VBSP.

Tu said debt in the agriculture and rural sector has enjoyed steady growth in the past decade at 20 percent. As of December 2018, the amount was estimated at 1.78 quadrillion VND (76.72 billion USD), a quarter of all total outstanding debts.

The VBSP is carrying out 20 credit programmes for impoverished households and policy beneficiary families, including 17 for agricultural development.

In past years, the credit programmes have provided farmers with capital to branch out their business, thus promoting the growth of the agro-forestry-fishery sector, which stood at 3.76 percent in 2018, the highest level in six years.

However, Tu said lending in this sector is risky while there is no strong mechanism to hedge risks. This will affect the bank’s financial situation if borrowers are not able to clear their debts, especially when they face misfortune in their production.

Tu suggested relevant sectors evaluate and forecast market demands for agricultural products, enhance trade promotion and help agricultural firms find markets for their products.

Attracting preferential loans and financial support from the foreign organisation is also a good measure to assure capital for the sector as well, he said.

New rural area programme to achieve five-year target in mid-2019

The number of communes recognised as new-style rural areas reached 4,144 as of the end of February, up 306 from the end of 2018, according to the central steering office of the new-style rural area building programme.

 

Lang Giang strives to be new rural style district in 2019

(BGO) -  The Chairman of Bac Giang provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Linh on February 27 had a working session with the People’s Committee in Lang Giang district about the schedule to build the new style rural (NSR) district during the urbanization.  

 

Rural market introduces culture of northern mountainous region

Despite low temperatures and drizzle on the morning of December 29, the rural market welcoming New Year 2019, which opened at the Culture-Tourism Village for Vietnamese Ethnic Groups in Hanoi’s suburban district of Son Tay, attracted numerous visitors from both home and abroad.

 

NA Chairwoman visits new-style rural communes in Hung Yen

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan on January 6 visited Xuan Quan and Me So communes, which were recently recognized as a new-style rural commune in Van Giang district, Hung Yen province.

 

Bringing clean water to rural areas

(BGO) - Many rural people have to live with running water polluted for a long time without alternative water sources. Grasping that demand, some businesses have invested in infrastructure works to bring clean water to rural residents, gradually improving the proportion of people using clean water in Bac Giang province.

 

Source: VNA