It is necessary to determine the position of Vietnamese agricultural products in the global market. After determination, we can focus and prioritize national resources for development.
According to a national report, Vietnam’s agricultural sector will continue to face difficulty in 2017. The difficulty is estimated not to reduce than in 2016.
On the demand side, agricultural exports have to face increasingly complex and rigid trade barriers and fierce competition. In addition, many Vietnamese agricultural products have not recovered yet, while developed markets have gradually grown to saturation and protectionism.
On the supply side, climate change and environmental pollution continue to affect agricultural production negatively. At the same time, surplus production capacity of several sectors, such as livestock makes these industries risky from export market.
Meanwhile, domestic economic growth, demographic change and urbanization are shifting the balance between the supply and demand of Vietnamese agricultural products and foodstuffs domestically from quantity to quantity. This poses a risk of discrepancy of supply structure – demand structure, rather than supply quantity – demand quantity.
Given the macro and market context, the report argues that Vietnam’s agriculture needs to redefine its driving force by increasing productivity and quality. Vietnam should position of each agricultural sector in the global market to prioritize development resources. Also, we have to redefine the market structure for each agricultural product.
Specifically, for the rice export industry, we are facing severe competition from other leading export countries. Therefore, in order to improve quality, added value and sustainable growth, we have to determine the market structure again. This includes developing cultivation fields, and seasons, processed products, taking advantage of raw materials and diversifying products from rice.
In the fishery sector, global protectionism, climate change, chain management and branding, will pose challenges for this sector in both short and long term.
Thus, the fishery sector requires a change in all factors in the industry. This includes policymakers, businesses, farmers, and the research community.
Regarding the fruit and vegetable sector, the report said that the export turnover has continuously increased over the years. Vietnamese exporters have successfully opened up a number of developed markets at high prices and high standards. This would increase opportunities for product diversification and market risk reduction.
However, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exporters are still not professional in the international market in terms of non-tariff barriers and protectionism. On the other hand, high technology investment will create significant advantages for this sector.
Therefore, in the coming time, the fruit and vegetable sector needs to come up with solutions to expand the market, attract investment, improve quality and branding as a national strategic industry.