Drawing Investment Funds for Agricultural Development

Bac Giang province has paid great attention to attracting investment in agriculture and rural development, thus forming "nuclei" to foster linkage in agricultural production, processing and consumption, and improving agricultural value.

Many agricultural products, few processors and traders

Bac Giang is a mountainous midland province, with nearly 300,000 ha of agricultural land, including nearly 70,000 ha of rice land, over 57,000 ha of perennial crops (industrial crops and fruit trees), and over 150,000 ha of forestland, aquaculture and other crops.

Currently, the province is home to dozens of intellectual property-certified agricultural products such as Yen The hill chicken; Phuc Hoa peanut and lychee (Tan Yen); Luc Ngan lychee; fragrant rice (Yen Dung); sugar apple and pineapple (Luc Nam).

These products generate high economic benefits and contribute positively to local economic growth and people's living standards. Many Bac Giang-branded agricultural products are not only consumed domestically but also exported to many countries around the world.

In addition, Bac Giang has a very large and stable output of planted timber thanks to intensive farming techniques and increasing forestry development. The livestock and aquaculture industry has also developed strongly, especially fish, pig, goat and chicken farming.

Notably, agricultural production accounts for 70-80% of the agricultural area and scale in Bac Giang province but not many enterprises invest in agriculture. The province currently has about 200 agricultural enterprises, mainly having small scale and limited potential. Agricultural producers account for less than 5% of total agricultural enterprises. Therefore, a large share of agricultural products sold and exported are raw, which are typically low in value.

Building investment mechanisms for enterprises

On April 3, 2019, the Standing Board of the Provincial Party Committee issued Resolution 401-NQ/TU on Bac Giang Agricultural Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2035. According to the resolution, modern and sustainable agricultural development is based on the promotion of local comparative advantages, application of scientific and technical advances, and adaptation to market mechanisms in line with industrial, trade and service development.

In order to effectively attract and encourage enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution 07/2019/NQ-HDND dated July 11, 2019 on specific policies to encourage enterprises to invest in agriculture and rural areas in Bac Giang province in 2019-2025. The Provincial People's Committee promulgated Decision 11/2020/QD-UBND dated May 26, 2020 on support levels for each type of agricultural and rural development investment in Bac Giang province.

Accordingly, enterprises growing flowers on 2 ha of land or more and vegetables on 5 ha or more in rural areas are supported 50% of investment cost, but limited by the province to VND2 billion per project for the construction of traffic, electricity, water supply and drainage systems, net houses or greenhouses. Enterprises raising from 300 goats, 100 horses and 70 buffaloes onwards are supported with 50% of investment costs, but not more than VND2 billion per project. In addition, they are entitled to tax incentives, land rents and water surface rents.

In order to implement the above incentivization policies and regulations, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is urgently surveying Lang Giang, Tan Yen, Hiep Hoa and Luc Nam districts to accumulate land from 30 ha or more. Then, the province has invited large enterprises such as T&T Group and Vingroup to invest in high-tech vegetable and flower farming; and sent letters of invitation to companies seeking to invest in wood processing for domestic consumption and export in districts where raw materials are abundant, including Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam and Yen The.

The province invites and attracts investors to invest in livestock and fowl processing in Yen The, Tan Yen, Lang Giang and Bac Giang districts, and in pork and chicken processing in Yen The, Tan Yen, Lang Giang and Luc Nam for domestic demand and for export.

Source: Vietnam Business Forum