Promoting science and technology, aiming for agricultural export target of USD 70 billion

On the afternoon of March 3, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien answered the press about issues related to the growth results of the industry in February 2025 and the development orientation in the coming time.

According to Deputy Minister Tien, in the face of fluctuations in the world situation in recent times, the Ministry has made assessments, from which it has proposed appropriate solutions, ensuring that the export turnover of agricultural products in 2025 meets the target assigned by the Prime Minister of USD 64 - 65 billion and USD 70 billion if conditions are favorable.

"In the first 2 months of 2025, the industry exported USD 9.38 billion, an increase of 8.3% over the same period, including many high-growth items such as forestry, coffee, seafood, rubber, cashew nuts...", Deputy Minister Tien informed and affirmed that most significant industries continued to grow and had surpluses.

Therefore, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said the industry must continue promoting advantageous products. In addition, it is necessary to overcome the difficulties of some decreasing products, such as fruits and rice, by using solution systems to increase value in the following months.

The role of science and processing

With the target of 4% growth in the whole industry in 2025 as assigned by the Government, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that it is necessary to review and evaluate to have solutions on the industry structure to ensure successful completion.

Regarding exports, Deputy Minister Tien affirmed that the industry's potential, advantages and fiscal space for export still exist. In which, science and technology is the first solution.

“Science and technology will determine the position of the country, the position of the nation, and the industry,” Deputy Minister Tien affirmed. Therefore, the first solution is to promote the development and application of science and technology more intensely, drastically, and effectively.

Accounting for more than 50% of the added value of the whole industry, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that in the coming time, science and technology need to go deeper into the program of varieties, cultivation processes, plant protection, veterinary medicine, and disease prevention and other fields to link with the circular economy, digital transformation, ensuring traceability of origin, transparency of products to enter the world market.

Regarding processing, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that Vietnam is still mostly stopping at exporting in bags, not packages, which shows that the sophistication and ability to process deeply with high added value are still limited compared to many countries.

“Our production area is not increasing anymore, so we need to improve productivity and quality and build raw material areas associated with processing and deep processing to increase added value. It is the room to exploit and achieve the export target in 2025 and create a premise for the 2026 - 2030 period”, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien stated.

Regarding the issue of processing, in addition to the process and principles of technology, Deputy Minister Tien emphasized the role of equipment to increase value. Therefore, it is necessary to take shortcuts, search, and invest on par with the region and the world to effectively combine with the raw material areas that have been built.

No bottlenecks after the merger

March 3 was the first working day of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment after the merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Although the implementation was speedy, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed that there would be no omissions or congestion, and all workflows would be ensured.

"When the two ministries merged, the assignment of tasks of the Ministry's leaders was unambiguous, and the Deputy Ministers in charge of each field directly directed their fields. Therefore, there was no congestion on the first working day, especially in administrative procedures.

When implementing the merger, the two ministries had many bilateral and separate working sessions to join forces and complete all the backlog of documents on February 28 to deploy activities under the name of the new Ministry - the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment", Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the export turnover of agriculture, forestry, and fishery products (AFF) in February 2025 was estimated at USD 4.4 billion, up 37.2% compared to February 2024, bringing the total export turnover of AFF in the first 2 months of 2025 to USD 9.38 billion, up 8.3% over the same period in 2024.

Of which, the export value of agricultural products reached USD 4.89 billion, up 4.5%; the export value of livestock products reached USD 72.2 million, up 4%; the export value of aquatic products reached USD 1.42 billion, up 18.6%; the export value of forestry products reached USD 2.68 billion, up 11.9%; the export value of production inputs reached USD 307.6 million, down 0.2%; Salt export value reached USD 1.4 million, doubled.