Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and General Director of IRRI signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of IRRI Office in Vietnam on 27th November 2014.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister Cao Duc Phat affirmed that the establishment of IRRI office in Vietnam was one of the activities, which strengthened and promoted further the cooperation in food and agricultural development between Vietnam and IRRI, contributing to the restructuring of Vietnamese agricultural sector.
The Minister also said that rice, as a traditional commodity of Vietnam, was one of three major sectors, which received special concern in the implementation of the agricultural sector restructuring. From 2013 up to now, the implementation of rice sector restructuring towards greater added value and sustainable development for new rural development was pushed up by MARD and had achieved curtain results. To achieve this task, a series of measures and tasks were taken placed at the same time, in which partnership between farmers and enterprises were encouraged to develop. The establishment of value chain was made ensuring equal benefit among the value chain stakeholders.
The establishment of IRRI office in Vietnam with the purpose of realization of research and cooperation on rice as well as all steps of the rice value chain was necessary for ensuring better nutrition, economic efficiency and livelihood for rice producers through an improved quality, benefit, and export value of Vietnamese rice.
Strengthening the cooperation with IRRI would contribute to the implementation of the Scheme on the agricultural sector restructuring, meeting the goal of building a comprehensive, modern, and sustainable agricultural development system with higher productivity, quality, efficiency, and competitiveness, ensuring national food security, and meeting various demands of domestic consumption and export.
At a seminar on water resource management between Vietnam and Hungary, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam expressed his hope that Hungary will strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, especially in regards to the sustainable development of water resources when the two countries realize the importance of this resource. This also reaffirmed a high commitment to tie bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development just issued Circular No. 43/2014/TT-BNNPTNTdated 18th November 2014 promulgating the List of agricultural, forestry and fishery products; auxiliary products; mechanical equipments for preserving, processing agricultural, forestry and fishery products to be supported by the state budget under the Government's Decree No. 210/2013/ND-CPdated 19th December 2013. This circular will take effective from 05th January 2015.
On 25th November 2011, the Prime Minister issued the Decision No. 66/2014/QĐ-TTg approving an order of high technology sectors prioritized for investment and development and of high-tech products, that are encouraged to develop, including new-generation agricultural machinery manufacturing technology. This Decision replaces the Decision No. 49/2010/QĐ-TTg dated 19th July 2010 and will take effective from 15th January 2015.
ISG Plenary Meeting 2014 with the theme: “Fostering Agro-Industry: Opportunities and Challenges” was organized and co-chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, Chairman of Dong Thap PPC Nguyen Van Duong, and IFAD Country Programme Manager Henning Pedersen. The aim of the Meeting was to exchange and share information on the current agricultural products processing industry, policy dialogue, and the environment of investment in agricultural products processing industry towards increasing added value of Vietnamese agricultural products.
Workshop on “Technical assistance and investment promotion for agriculture restructure in Dong Thap province” aiming at opening dialogue, sharing information, seeking cooperation opportunities, technical assistance, investment promotion for agricultural sector was organized by Dong Thap Provincial People’s Committee on 25th November 2014 in Hanoi. Participants of the workshop included Leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Leader representatives of central agencies, and many local and international investment organizations.
Delivering the speech at the signing ceremony, Minister Cao Duc Phat stressed that exchanging experience and promoting cooperation in the field of agriculture was needed for contributing to support the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the process of the agricultural sector restructuring towards better added value and sustainable development.
The first meeting of Vietnam – Iran Joint Working Group on Trade in the framework of the Joint-Committee on Economics and Trade Cooperation between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was held in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran during 13-14 October 2014.
The Vietnam-Russia Joint Committee for Fisheries held the 5th session in Hanoi during 20- 31 October 2014, the Committee adopted the working agenda, and agreed on the information sharing related to the cooperation in the field of fisheries in the next stage; Draft Protocol, which revised and amended the Agreement dated 16th June 1994 and the Committee’s Operational Regulations; Orientation for the next cooperation considering the results of Vietnam-Russia Science and Technology Cooperation Meeting held in Nha Trang in May 2012.
The AMMDM 2 and relevant meetings were held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam from 12-16 October 2014. Vietnamese delegates were led by Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang.
In the Openning Speech by Dr. Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam at The 42nd International Pepper Session and Meetings were held in Ho Chi Minh city from 27 – 30 October 2014, mentioned that “The pepper production industry was expected to have significant growthwith a high added value, generating many benefits for producers, processors and exporters, contributing to stable national employment and sustainable national economic development”.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat attended the 8th Asia-Europe Parliament Partnership (ASEP) Meeting from 6-7 October 2014 in Italy and played as one of the key speakers in concurred with the Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies during the discussion session on “sustainable growth and food security”.
Strengthening cooperation in agriculture between the provinces and cities of Vietnam and Ibarak prefecture of Japan - the province has the most developed agriculture in Japan - will foster the motivation from the central level to local level to promote Vietnam agriculture sector growth towards "Medium-to-long-term vision for agricultural sector cooperation between the two countries.”
On 29 August 2014, the International Cooperation Department, International Support Group (ISG), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held the Launching workshop on 03 restructuring action plans of crop production, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors within the framework of technical assistance funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and called for the international community to continue their support for Viet Nam agricultural sector restructuring towards greater added value and sustainable development.
The Inaugural Meeting of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture - ACSA was organized under the initiatives the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit with the participation of over 100 leaders, from government, business, farmer union, civil society, production organization, research institutions, and inter-government organization.
The 36th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and relevant Meetings, including 14th AMAF+3 (P.R. China, Japan, Republic of Korea), 4th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers - China on quality control, inspection and quarantine was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Vietnamese delegation was led by Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh to participate in the meetings.
Agence Française de Développement - AFD signed a Credit Agreement worth 20 million Euros to provide the 4th grant for the Support Programme to Respond to Climate Change (SPRCC). At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Jean - Noel Poirier said: "Climate change is a common concern of all countries in the world. This area has been effectively implemented since the project started. The French government will continuously provide support to Vietnam in the efforts of responding to climate change”.
On 26th September 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awarded the medal "For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Mr. Sugatani Susumu, long-term expert of JICA working in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for his productive contribution to the development of Viet Nam agriculture sector and cooperation between Japan and Vietnam. The medal is presented to express the appreciation of MARD to his contributions during his tenure in Vietnam from October 2010 to 30th September 2014.
On 28 August 2014, in Xiamen city, Fujian province, China, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam attended the 4th APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting. The meeting saw the participation of the ministers and minister-equivalent officials of 19/21 APEC economies. The APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting adopted the Xiamen Declaration on the theme "Towards New Partnership through Ocean Cooperation in Asia Pacific Region" with 4 priority areas: coastal and marine ecosystem conservation and disaster resilience; the role of the ocean on food security and food-related trade; marine science, technology and innovation; and blue economy.
At the invitation of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of Norway and Embassy of Norway in Hanoi, Vice Minister Vu Van Tam led the mission of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development during the visit to the Kingdom of Norway from 19 to 23 August, 2014.
At the bilateral meeting, the two Vice Ministers signed the minutes of cooperation in science and technology, animal health, training and trade promotion.
In the closing event of Viet Nam - Germany Forestry Programme on 19 August 2014 in Hanoi, Ms. Annette Frick confirmed that the Government of Germany would continue to support Viet Nam's forestry sector, with focuses on biodiversity protection and climate issues.
The Prime Minister has approved the Action Plan for agricultural machinery development for the implementation of Industrialization Strategy of Viet Nam in the framework of Vietnam-Japan cooperation until 2020 and with vision to 2030 at Decision 1342/QD-TTg dated 12 August 2014. Accordingly, the development of areas of agricultural machinery; processing of agricultural and fisheries products; shipbuilding; environment and energy-saving will be given priority with the aim of supporting the promotion of agricultural development towards greater added value, international competitiveness and sustainable development (Decision 1043/QD-TTg).
Striving for an average GDP growth rate at 6.5 - 7%/year and an average decline in the proportion of poor households of 1.5%/year in 2016 - 2020 is the important task of the Socio-economic Development Plan in 5 years from 2016-2020 of the Government proposed in Directive 22/CT-TTg dated 5 August 2014.
The Prime Minister approved the "Action Plan for improvement of the implementation of programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans for period 2014 - 2015" at Decision 1257/QD-TTg dated 25 July 2014, with 6 main tasks to enhance ODA efficiency.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), held the workshop "Remote sensing application for food security" on 30 July 2014 in Hanoi, with the presence of nearly 100 participants including scientists, management officials and representatives of domestic and foreign enterprises. The application of remote sensing technology will contribute to the implementation of agriculture sector restructuring scheme, including crop restructuring in Mekong Delta, Red River Delta and Northern Mountain.
From July 9th – 11th 2014 a meeting between Partners of Alliance on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) was held in The Hague, Netherlands to discuss on the formation of a Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture. The meeting was hosted by the Netherlands Government and co-chaired by Dr Hans Hoogeveen, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Mr. David Nabarro, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Food Security and Nutrition, United Nations.
On 29 July 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awarded the medal "For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Ms. Daphne Dernison, Agricultural Counsellor, Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam due to her positive support for the development of Viet Nam agriculture sector and cooperation between the Netherlands and Vietnam. The medal is a tribute to her contributions during her working term in Vietnam from July 2010 to July 2014.
This is one of the key tasks that the Prime Minister has assigned to relevant ministries and units in Directive 18/CT-TTg dated 15July 2014 on strengthening the implementation direction of the National Target Program on New Rural Development.
On July 14th 2014, the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in collaboration with the Embassy of Israel in Viet Nam, held the "Viet Nam – Israel Agricultural Enterprises Forum" in Hanoi. This is a new opportunity and prospect for agricultural development and cooperation of the two countries.
This is one of the tasks outlined for the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and People's Committees of provinces and municipalities and relevant units in the Action Plan of the Government to continue the implementation of the Resolution of the 4th Party Central Committee X on a number of key policies for economic growth and sustainability upon Viet Nam's membership of the World Trade Organization, issued with Resolution 49/NQ-CP dated July 10th 2014.
At the first high-level dialogue meeting on Viet Nam - Japan agricultural cooperation, the two sides have agreed on the outline proposal for the medium-term and long-term vision for comprehensive agriculture development in Viet Nam. Accordingly, specific activities will be identified for the period 2015-2019 and later phases in Viet Nam.
(i) To assure national food security;(ii) To raise rice farmers' income;(iii) sustainable development: sustainable farming, reduction in production costs, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and post-harvest losses, enhancement of refined processing and by-product processing.
The Governments of Viet Nam, South Africa and the Netherlands co-organized a Consultative meeting, with support from the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), FAO, CGIAR/CCAFS, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Italy, for establishing an Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
On June 17th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has awarded the medal"For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Ms. Jennifer Sara, Sector Manager of the Sustainable Development Department of the World Bank (WB) in Viet Nam on the occasion of the completion of her working term in Viet Nam.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on "Food Safety Control", a significant legal framework to promote export and import of agricultural products between the two countries.
"Agriculture in Viet Nam and the Netherlands have similarities in both advantages and challenges. Therefore, the two countries have recently provided effective support for the agricultural sector, especially in terms of food security. Also, the two countries have officially established a strategic partnership for agriculture. This will be a great opportunity for agricultural cooperation between the two countries with the goal of making Vietnam become the Netherlands of Asia", the Minister of Agriculture of the Netherlands – Ms. Sharon Dijksma said at the talks.
According to the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, Denmark will disburse 90 million USD in ODA grants to Vietnam in the period 2014-2015. The main focus areas include: green growth; climate change; economic development for private sector; water and sanitation; culture and public governance activities. Denmark pledged to support Vietnam in the fight to reduce poverty and the development a more sustainable economy.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the project "Food safety assurance in the transport and slaughter of livestock and poultry for period 2014-2020". The project aims to control the slaughter and transport of livestock and poultry in the whole country in accordance with the characteristics of each region, assure food safety for domestic consumption and exports and contribute to disease spread prevention and ecological environment protection.
At the meeting to discuss solutions to overcome difficulties and promote export of agricultural and fishery products held by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on June 3th 2014, the two Ministries and other relevant ministries and commodity associations identified the challenges in the consumption of this commodity group and agreed on 5 general solutions to overcome difficulties and promote export of this commodity group.
On May 30th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a ceremony to receive equipment of "Non-project aid for disaster prevention and recovery of areas affected by floods in Vietnam in 2011" funded by the Government of Japan, with total value of 600 million yen.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hosted The Second Meeting of APTERR Council between May 29th - 30th 2014, with the aim of discussing necessary amendments for financial management rules and procedures of APTERR, identifying a number of fundamental issues of coordination mechanism between ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and APTERR Fund, and agreeing on the work plan for 2014-2015.
On May 27th, the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Cheil Jedang (CJ) Corporation - South Korea, Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on the implementation of the project "New rural development associated with agricultural value chain development in Ninh Thuan" was held in the city of Phan Ranh, Ninh Thuan province.
The Politburo has issued Conclusion No. 97-KL/TW on a number of policies and solutions to implement Central Resolution 7 (X) on agriculture, farmers and rural areas.
Accordingly, the strategic and innovative Central Resolution 7 (X) on agriculture, farmers and rural areas will be widely implemented in a uniform and serious manner, with the participation of the political system and the people.
To achieve the goals of the Sector restructuring scheme and promote the emulationmovement "The whole country puts joint efforts into new rural development",on behalf of the Official Section of the Communist Party, the ministerial leaders and Emulation and Rewards Council of the Ministry, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched the movement"The whole agriculture and rural development sector puts joint efforts into sector restructuring and new rural development"in the period 2014 - 2015 and until 2020, with 5 main contents.
The Government has issued Resolution 31/NQ-CP, dated May 13th 2014, on the Action Programme by the Government for the implementation of Resolution 22-NQ/TW, dated April 10th 2013, of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam on international integration.
On May 19th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a consultation workshop on the draft scheme "Strengthening management and attraction of foreign direct investment in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the period 2015-2020, with directions to 2030". Minister Cao Duc Phat emphasized that the workshop is a great opportunity for the ministry to listen to the discussion of experts, regulators, domestic and foreign enterprises and international organizations, pointing out the real cause for the "poor" condition of FDI attraction in agriculture and proposing solutions to exploit the full potential, increase farmers' income and bring long-term benefits for investors in agriculture in the future.
The mission led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam including representatives of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, arrived in Washington, D.C, the United States
The Prime Minister issued Decision 644/QD-TTg, dated May 5th 2014, approving the Scheme "Supporting small and medium enterprises indeveloping sectoral linking clusters in the value chain of agricultural and rural sector",implemented in2014-2018.
The National Action Plan on Green Growth was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 403/QD-TTG, dated March 20th 2014. International donors highly appreciate this Plan and stress that green growth is a huge step of economic restructuring in Vietnam. This is an impressive triumph of Vietnam in the roadmap of response to climate change, making a tremendous impact on socioeconomic development and an important goal in the industrialization and modernization process of the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the "Restructuring scheme of irrigation sector" in Decision 794/QD-BNN-TCTL dated April 21st 2014 with the objectives: improving efficiency of irrigation sector to contribute to agricultural restructuring towards greater added value and sustainable development; meeting the development requirements of socioeconomic sectors; building capacity for disaster prevention and response to climate change; contributing to modernization of agricultural and rural infrastructure and new rural development.
The State Bank of Vietnam and the World Bank(WB) has signed financing agreements andrelated legal documents with a total budget of 390 million USD for 3 projects including: Central Highlands Poverty Reduction Project (150 million USD), Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project (180 million USD) and Social Assistance System Strengthening Project (60 million USD).
ISG - International
Support Group, First floor, B4 Building , no 2 Ngoc Ha street, Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: (84 - 4) 37711736 Fax : (84-4) 37713071 Email:isgmard@mard.gov.vn
At a seminar on water resource management between Vietnam and Hungary, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam expressed his hope that Hungary will strengthen cooperation with Vietnam, especially in regards to the sustainable development of water resources when the two countries realize the importance of this resource. This also reaffirmed a high commitment to tie bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development just issued Circular No. 
On 25th November 2011, the Prime Minister issued the Decision No. 66/2014/QĐ-TTg approving an order of high technology sectors prioritized for investment and development and of high-tech products, that are encouraged to develop, including new-generation agricultural machinery manufacturing technology. This Decision replaces the Decision No. 49/2010/QĐ-TTg dated 19th July 2010 and will take effective from 15th January 2015.
ISG Plenary Meeting 2014 with the theme: “Fostering Agro-Industry: Opportunities and Challenges” was organized and co-chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat, Chairman of Dong Thap PPC Nguyen Van Duong, and IFAD Country Programme Manager Henning Pedersen. The aim of the Meeting was to exchange and share information on the current agricultural products processing industry, policy dialogue, and the environment of investment in agricultural products processing industry towards increasing added value of Vietnamese agricultural products.
Workshop on “Technical assistance and investment promotion for agriculture restructure in Dong Thap province” aiming at opening dialogue, sharing information, seeking cooperation opportunities, technical assistance, investment promotion for agricultural sector was organized by Dong Thap Provincial People’s Committee on 25th November 2014 in Hanoi. Participants of the workshop included Leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Leader representatives of central agencies, and many local and international investment organizations.
The first meeting of Vietnam – Iran Joint Working Group on Trade in the framework of the Joint-Committee on Economics and Trade Cooperation between the Government of Vietnam and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran was held in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran during 13-14 October 2014.
The AMMDM 2 and relevant meetings were held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam from 12-16 October 2014. Vietnamese delegates were led by Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Hoang Van Thang.
In the Openning Speech by Dr. Le Quoc Doanh, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Viet Nam at The 42nd International Pepper Session and Meetings were held in Ho Chi Minh city from 27 – 30 October 2014, mentioned that “The pepper production industry was expected to have significant growthwith a high added value, generating many benefits for producers, processors and exporters, contributing to stable national employment and sustainable national economic development”.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat attended the 8th Asia-Europe Parliament Partnership (ASEP) Meeting from 6-7 October 2014 in Italy and played as one of the key speakers in concurred with the Italian Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies during the discussion session on “sustainable growth and food security”.
Strengthening cooperation in agriculture between the provinces and cities of Vietnam and Ibarak prefecture of Japan - the province has the most developed agriculture in Japan - will foster the motivation from the central level to local level to promote Vietnam agriculture sector growth towards "Medium-to-long-term vision for agricultural sector cooperation between the two countries.”
On 29 August 2014, the International Cooperation Department, International Support Group (ISG), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held the Launching workshop on 03 restructuring action plans of crop production, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors within the framework of technical assistance funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and called for the international community to continue their support for Viet Nam agricultural sector restructuring towards greater added value and sustainable development.
The Inaugural Meeting of the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture - ACSA was organized under the initiatives the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit with the participation of over 100 leaders, from government, business, farmer union, civil society, production organization, research institutions, and inter-government organization.
The 36th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and relevant Meetings, including 14th AMAF+3 (P.R. China, Japan, Republic of Korea), 4th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers - China on quality control, inspection and quarantine was held in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. Vietnamese delegation was led by Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh to participate in the meetings.
Agence Française de Développement - AFD signed a Credit Agreement worth 20 million Euros to provide the 4th grant for the Support Programme to Respond to Climate Change (SPRCC). At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Jean - Noel Poirier said: "Climate change is a common concern of all countries in the world. This area has been effectively implemented since the project started. The French government will continuously provide support to Vietnam in the efforts of responding to climate change”.
On 26th September 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awarded the medal "For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Mr. Sugatani Susumu, long-term expert of JICA working in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) for his productive contribution to the development of Viet Nam agriculture sector and cooperation between Japan and Vietnam. The medal is presented to express the appreciation of MARD to his contributions during his tenure in Vietnam from October 2010 to 30th September 2014.
On 28 August 2014, in Xiamen city, Fujian province, China, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam attended the 4th APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting. The meeting saw the participation of the ministers and minister-equivalent officials of 19/21 APEC economies. The APEC Ocean-Related Ministerial Meeting adopted the Xiamen Declaration on the theme "Towards New Partnership through Ocean Cooperation in Asia Pacific Region" with 4 priority areas: coastal and marine ecosystem conservation and disaster resilience; the role of the ocean on food security and food-related trade; marine science, technology and innovation; and blue economy.
At the invitation of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries of Norway and Embassy of Norway in Hanoi, Vice Minister Vu Van Tam led the mission of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development during the visit to the Kingdom of Norway from 19 to 23 August, 2014.
The Prime Minister has approved the Action Plan for agricultural machinery development for the implementation of Industrialization Strategy of Viet Nam in the framework of Vietnam-Japan cooperation until 2020 and with vision to 2030 at Decision 1342/QD-TTg dated 12 August 2014. Accordingly, the development of areas of agricultural machinery; processing of agricultural and fisheries products; shipbuilding; environment and energy-saving will be given priority with the aim of supporting the promotion of agricultural development towards greater added value, international competitiveness and sustainable development (Decision 1043/QD-TTg).
Striving for an average GDP growth rate at 6.5 - 7%/year and an average decline in the proportion of poor households of 1.5%/year in 2016 - 2020 is the important task of the Socio-economic Development Plan in 5 years from 2016-2020 of the Government proposed in Directive 22/CT-TTg dated 5 August 2014.
The Prime Minister approved the "Action Plan for improvement of the implementation of programs and projects funded by ODA and concessional loans for period 2014 - 2015" at Decision 1257/QD-TTg dated 25 July 2014, with 6 main tasks to enhance ODA efficiency.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), held the workshop "Remote sensing application for food security" on 30 July 2014 in Hanoi, with the presence of nearly 100 participants including scientists, management officials and representatives of domestic and foreign enterprises. The application of remote sensing technology will contribute to the implementation of agriculture sector restructuring scheme, including crop restructuring in Mekong Delta, Red River Delta and Northern Mountain.
From July 9th – 11th 2014 a meeting between Partners of Alliance on Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) was held in The Hague, Netherlands to discuss on the formation of a Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture. The meeting was hosted by the Netherlands Government and co-chaired by Dr Hans Hoogeveen, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Mr. David Nabarro, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Food Security and Nutrition, United Nations. 
On 29 July 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development awarded the medal "For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Ms. Daphne Dernison, Agricultural Counsellor, Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam due to her positive support for the development of Viet Nam agriculture sector and cooperation between the Netherlands and Vietnam. The medal is a tribute to her contributions during her working term in Vietnam from July 2010 to July 2014.
This is one of the key tasks that the Prime Minister has assigned to relevant ministries and units in Directive 18/CT-TTg dated 15July 2014 on strengthening the implementation direction of the National Target Program on New Rural Development.
On July 14
This is one of the tasks outlined for the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and People's Committees of provinces and municipalities and relevant units in the Action Plan of the Government to continue the implementation of the Resolution of the 4th Party Central Committee X on a number of key policies for economic growth and sustainability upon Viet Nam's membership of the World Trade Organization, issued with Resolution 49/NQ-CP dated July 10th 2014.
At the first high-level dialogue meeting on Viet Nam - Japan agricultural cooperation, the two sides have agreed on the outline proposal for the medium-term and long-term vision for comprehensive agriculture development in Viet Nam. Accordingly, specific activities will be identified for the period 2015-2019 and later phases in Viet Nam.
Direction of rice sector restructuring:
The Governments of Viet Nam, South Africa and the Netherlands co-organized a Consultative meeting, with support from the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), FAO, CGIAR/CCAFS, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Italy, for establishing an Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture.
On June 17th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has awarded the medal"For the cause of agriculture and rural development" to Ms. Jennifer Sara, Sector Manager of the Sustainable Development Department of the World Bank (WB) in Viet Nam on the occasion of the completion of her working term in Viet Nam.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries of Argentina has signed a Memorandum of Understanding on "Food Safety Control", a significant legal framework to promote export and import of agricultural products between the two countries.
"Agriculture in Viet Nam and the Netherlands have similarities in both advantages and challenges. Therefore, the two countries have recently provided effective support for the agricultural sector, especially in terms of food security. Also, the two countries have officially established a strategic partnership for agriculture. This will be a great opportunity for agricultural cooperation between the two countries with the goal of making Vietnam become the Netherlands of Asia", the Minister of Agriculture of the Netherlands – Ms. Sharon Dijksma said at the talks.
According to the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, Denmark will disburse 90 million USD in ODA grants to Vietnam in the period 2014-2015. The main focus areas include: green growth; climate change; economic development for private sector; water and sanitation; culture and public governance activities. Denmark pledged to support Vietnam in the fight to reduce poverty and the development a more sustainable economy.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the project "Food safety assurance in the transport and slaughter of livestock and poultry for period 2014-2020". The project aims to control the slaughter and transport of livestock and poultry in the whole country in accordance with the characteristics of each region, assure food safety for domestic consumption and exports and contribute to disease spread prevention and ecological environment protection.
At the meeting to discuss solutions to overcome difficulties and promote export of agricultural and fishery products held by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on June 3th 2014, the two Ministries and other relevant ministries and commodity associations identified the challenges in the consumption of this commodity group and agreed on 5 general solutions to overcome difficulties and promote export of this commodity group.
On May 30th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a ceremony to receive equipment of "Non-project aid for disaster prevention and recovery of areas affected by floods in Vietnam in 2011" funded by the Government of Japan, with total value of 600 million yen.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development hosted The Second Meeting of APTERR Council between May 29th - 30th 2014, with the aim of discussing necessary amendments for financial management rules and procedures of APTERR, identifying a number of fundamental issues of coordination mechanism between ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and APTERR Fund, and agreeing on the work plan for 2014-2015.
On May 27th, the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Cheil Jedang (CJ) Corporation - South Korea, Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on the implementation of the project "New rural development associated with agricultural value chain development in Ninh Thuan" was held in the city of Phan Ranh, Ninh Thuan province.
To achieve the goals of the Sector restructuring scheme and promote the emulationmovement "The whole country puts joint efforts into new rural development",on behalf of the Official Section of the Communist Party, the ministerial leaders and Emulation and Rewards Council of the Ministry, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has launched the movement"The whole agriculture and rural development sector puts joint efforts into sector restructuring and new rural development"in the period 2014 - 2015 and until 2020, with 5 main contents.
On May 19th 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a consultation workshop on the draft scheme "Strengthening management and attraction of foreign direct investment in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the period 2015-2020, with directions to 2030". Minister Cao Duc Phat emphasized that the workshop is a great opportunity for the ministry to listen to the discussion of experts, regulators, domestic and foreign enterprises and international organizations, pointing out the real cause for the "poor" condition of FDI attraction in agriculture and proposing solutions to exploit the full potential, increase farmers' income and bring long-term benefits for investors in agriculture in the future.
The mission led by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vu Van Tam including representatives of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, arrived in Washington, D.C, the United States
The Prime Minister issued Decision 644/QD-TTg, dated May 5th 2014, approving the Scheme "Supporting small and medium enterprises indeveloping sectoral linking clusters in the value chain of agricultural and rural sector",implemented in2014-2018.
The National Action Plan on Green Growth was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 403/QD-TTG, dated March 20th 2014. International donors highly appreciate this Plan and stress that green growth is a huge step of economic restructuring in Vietnam. This is an impressive triumph of Vietnam in the roadmap of response to climate change, making a tremendous impact on socioeconomic development and an important goal in the industrialization and modernization process of the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has approved the "Restructuring scheme of irrigation sector" in Decision 794/QD-BNN-TCTL dated April 21st 2014 with the objectives: improving efficiency of irrigation sector to contribute to agricultural restructuring towards greater added value and sustainable development; meeting the development requirements of socioeconomic sectors; building capacity for disaster prevention and response to climate change; contributing to modernization of agricultural and rural infrastructure and new rural development.
The State Bank of Vietnam and the World Bank(WB) has signed financing agreements andrelated legal documents with a total budget of 390 million USD for 3 projects including: Central Highlands Poverty Reduction Project (150 million USD), Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project (180 million USD) and Social Assistance System Strengthening Project (60 million USD).