Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaking at the review meeting of the agriculture and rural development sector in Hanoi, January 3, 2024. Photo: VOV

Addressing a review meeting of the agriculture and rural development sector in Hanoi, Prime Minister Chinh urged the sector to prevent or strictly handle illegal fishing vessels abroad. He also called for the establishment of a fund to mobilize resources for investment in fishery infrastructure development.

The Prime Minister said that in 2024, the agricultural sector implement the Government's motto of "Disciplined responsibility, timely initiative, accelerated innovation, sustainable efficiency”.

He requested effective implementation of the One Commune One Product Program (OCOP) and Project "Sustainable development of one million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta until 2030."

It’s necessary to reorganize production, develop appropriate and effective forms of production coupled with digital transformation and digital economy, boost mechanization and apply science and technology, high technology, intelligence, and automation in agricultural production.

The Prime Minister called for better forecast of supply and demand, providing market information, connecting producers with consumers, and taking advantage of free trade agreements that Vietnam has participated in to restructure export markets, and remove barriers to entering new markets.

He stressed the importance of the domestic market and urged for a strategy to bring goods from rural areas to urban areas as well as building a brand for Vietnamese agricultural products.

Efforts should be made to strengthen management, protection and development of forests, especially natural forests and protective forests, and finalize the 2024 plan to implement the Project "Planting 1 billion trees from 2021 to 2025", the PM said.

In 2024, the agriculture and rural development sector aims to achieve a growth rate of 3-3.5% and agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover of 54-55 billion USD.