Proposing policies and solutions to support the agricultural sector during the Covid-19 pandemic

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), when faced with the new developments of the Covid-19 epidemic domestically and globally, the production, trading and consumption of agricultural products will continue to face many difficulties and challenges in the coming time.

In order to remove the difficulties and obstacles, promote production and business activities, and reduce agricultural inventories in localities affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, the MARD has proposed to the Ministry of Planning and Investment several policies and support solutions.

Trade promotion

In a prompt manner, the MARD will direct local functional units and people to strictly implement the ministry's documents on the direction and administration (on seasonal crop calendar, weather and epidemic developments, etc...) to adjust production operations accordingly.

In addition, the MARD will cooperate with ministries, localities and commodity industry associations to monitor and obtain information, grasp the situation of domestic production, supply and consumption of agricultural products, and changes in agricultural product supply and demand, especially crop products in harvest time, along with livestock and poultry products.

The MARD will then initiate organizing trade promotion activities, support localities to advertise products, connect the consumption of agricultural products using appropriate methods (online), ensuring regulations on disease prevention; propose the Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct supermarket chains to increase purchasing agricultural products for farmers; continue to implement the market stabilization of essential commodities program in big cities and carry out plans to ensure supply and demand of goods to cope with the Covid-19 epidemic.

Supportive policies

In addition to trade promotion solutions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct localities to create conditions for agricultural products to ensure the safety of isolated provinces, to circulate and normally consume in the provinces and cities.

Moreover, the Ministry of Industry and Trade should consult business units to provide logistics services, warehouses, cold storage, shipping lines ... to support the preservation of goods, reduce storage costs, especially agricultural products and food that require a special preservation regime.

Regarding the Ministry of Finance, the MARD strongly recommends initiating policies to reduce production costs for businesses affected by the epidemic such as exemption or reduction of land rent for agricultural enterprises, electricity and water prices for factories and cold storages, and permission to delay the payment of electricity bills.

The Ministry of Finance can also coordinate with the MARD and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct the customs and quarantine authorities to consider extending working hours during the day, organizing overtime labor to support the implementation of licensing, clearance of goods, avoiding long-term congestion at ports, causing additional costly payment for container storage, storage on-site and the cost of power plugging for cold storage at ports and border gates.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance will study policies about transportation cost reduction and goods circulation, policies about price subsidy and damage support for the people, businesses and cooperatives affected and at loss due to the local distancing/isolation to put the Covid-19 epidemic under control.

In regard to the Vietnam State Bank, the MARD will research and develop a debt rescheduling policy, which does not turn debts into bad debts, or fines overdue debts for mature loans, reduces transaction costs to create conditions for enterprises to concentrate production capital.

Additionally, deferred credit packages will be activated, creating conditions for businesses, cooperatives and farmers to access this capital to maintain production activities, ensuring raw materials for processing factories.

The State Bank also needs to have fiscal policies to support enterprises in difficult times caused by the epidemic, for example: reduction of input value-added tax on raw materials, reduction or exemption of corporate income tax for a period of time for heavily impacted businesses.