Korean programme helps agriculture enter value chain

March 11, 2014 | 18:18

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Through a knowledge sharing programme, South Korea is actively supporting Vietnam’s agricultural industry in forming a value chain – an issue paid close attention to by the Vietnamese government.

In a senior policy dialogue on a programme started last year (KSP 2013) at the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) last week, experts from South Korea selected three agricultural products – rubber, coffee and shrimp – to support in joining the global value chain.

According to professor Yong-Taek Kim from Chonman University, KSP 2013 selected these three products as their market shares and export values have risen over the past ten years.

Another reason was that coffee is the biggest forex earner and rubber comes in third of all of Vietnam’s agricultural exports. Shrimp was chosen as it is the country’s most important aquatic export.

Under the KSP 2013, agriculture is targeted due to its central role in the economy. Up to 70 per cent of the Vietnamese population lives in rural areas and 50 per cent of the workforce is in the agricultural industry. At the same time, the country’s agriculture has developed to the point where it is internationally competitive.

By By Kieu Linh

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