Revision of policy incentives for farm investors urgent

CAN THO - The Government has underscored the importance of urgently revising a decree on policy incentives for enterprises committed to the agricultural sector and rural areas to lure more investment into the sector, according to the Government Office’s recent announcement.

The announcement conveys Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue’s conclusion made after a meeting held in Hanoi earlier on revision of Decree 210/2013/ND-CP and ways to encourage more businesses to pour capital into the sector, a key driver of the country’s economic growth. 

The Government’s Decree 210 was issued in 2013 to boost investment in the agricultural sector and rural areas as well as support production of goods and sustainable socio-economic development in rural areas. It was seen as an important driver for restructuring  the sector in rural areas.

However, the decree has not produced as good results as expected due to limited resources and policy incentives, changes in land use planning in provinces, difficult farmland accumulation for large-scale farming, inconsistent farming models, inefficient agricultural insurance that makes it hard for firms to take out bank loans, and complicated procedures. These are major hurdles to corporate investment in the sector.

On top of that, enterprises have grappled with a maze of complicated procedures for investment projects in the agricultural sector and rural areas since some rules in the decree are inconsistent with relevant laws, including the laws on land, public investment and construction.

More than 4,420 enterprises are active in the agro-forestry-fishery sector, accounting for less than 1% of the businesses countrywide. Twenty-three provinces have got a total of VND285 billion to support 64 investment projects in the agricultural sector and rural areas.

“Therefore, it is urgent to revise Decree 210 in a way that backs socio-economic development,” the announcement said.

According to the announcement, the new decree should help attract more investors to agriculture and rural areas; and contain policy incentives in terms of land, tax, investment environment and administrative procedures as well as financial support in line with the disbursement capability of the State budget. 

The new decree should give priorities to firms which do scientific research, buy and transfer technology for domestic production, develop hi-tech farms, and take part in the agricultural goods production, processing and consumption chains.

The new decree needs to do away with unnecessary procedures to help the corporate sector cut business costs.