The 5th Prime Minister’s Conference on direct dialogue with Vietnamese farmers was held in Hanoi, with the theme “Farmers are the subjects and the center in agricultural development, rural economy and construction.” building green and sustainable new rural areas”.
The conference, chaired and coordinated by the Central Vietnam Farmers’ Association, was held directly at the bridgehead of the Government Headquarters and online to 63 bridge points in centrally-run provinces and cities with 4,150 delegates. attend. Participating in the dialogue with the Prime Minister, there were also Vice President, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Thi Thu Ha; Chairman of the Central Vietnam Farmers’ Union Luong Quoc Doan; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan; Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; leaders of departments, ministries, branches and central agencies; leaders of provinces and cities; leaders of socio-political organizations and associations; Especially with the participation of more than 4,000 delegates representing farmers across the country.
The Prime Minister’s Conference on Dialogue with Farmers in 2023 received the attention of farmers nationwide, with more than 2,000 questions, suggestions and recommendations from farmers sent to the Prime Minister. In particular, focusing on current topical topics, which is promoting the role of farmers as the subject and center in rural economic development, building green and sustainable new rural areas according to the Right on the topic of today’s Conference.
In addition, there are questions about solutions to increase the value of the agricultural sector; promoting the development of green agriculture and circular economy, associated with promoting and improving the quality and brand of agricultural products; issues related to social security of farmers.
Issues of investment resources for agricultural, farmer and rural development; Organize modern agricultural production along the value chain; credit for agricultural development, especially high-tech agriculture; Policies to encourage and support the application of science and technology, digital transformation in agriculture, farmers, and rural areas;… are also in the series of “hot” issues in the 2,000 questions people sent to Prime Minister Pham Minh. Main. Because as the Prime Minister said, “if farmers can borrow capital, they can become rich, but if they cannot access capital, they will be poor for life.”
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh spoke at the Conference.
Directing at the Conference, the Prime Minister emphasized that the contribution of the agricultural sector, rural areas and farmers to the country’s overall achievements is huge and extremely important; affirming its role and position, contributing to solidifying the foundation for the country’s rapid and sustainable development. The Prime Minister suggested that the banking industry try to research credit policies to support farmers. Banks need to pay attention to supporting mortgages in the future. Banks need to strengthen guidance on solving difficulties for farmers at the grassroots level, so that farmers understand the bank’s regulations. The Prime Minister suggested that banks need to research policies on accessing credit including collateral and unsecured loans, and research more on unsecured loans. By nature, farmers are honest and sincere. Therefore, it is necessary to be flexible in accessing capital for farmers. It is necessary to strengthen credit for future assets for farmers,” the Prime Minister emphasized.
“In short, State agencies must have policies so that farmers have more convenient access to credit, at the right address, at the right location and in a timely manner. Banks need to base it on the specific characteristics and characteristics. of farmers to have credit and form assets in the future so that farmers can access capital more conveniently and better,” the head of the Government emphasized.
Mr. Le Hong Phuc (middle) – Deputy General Director of Agribank attended the Conference.
As a bank established with the mission of serving agriculture, farmers, and rural areas, Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has always been a pioneer and leader in investing in the field of “Agribank” for the past 35 years. three rural”. Agribank leaders said that Agribank seriously and proactively implements solutions and directs effective operations according to the direction of the Government and the State Bank (SBV) to support agricultural and rural development. promote the key role in the banking system in providing credit and lending for agricultural and rural development; Continue to effectively implement national target programs for building new rural areas, national target programs for sustainable poverty reduction, and promptly provide preferential credit for policies to remove difficulties for people. Ensuring the right purpose, right target audience, implementing 7 policy credit programs and 2 national target programs on new rural areas.
For example, outstanding agricultural and rural loans for individual customers at Agribank currently account for 63.1% of total outstanding loans, with 956,372 billion VND. Notably, Agribank’s proportion of unsecured loans in the agricultural and rural sector accounts for about 22% of outstanding loans in the agricultural and rural sector. By November 30, 2023, the amount of interest supported by customers from the beginning of the program is VND 3,669 billion (of which: Shipbuilding loans according to Decree 67/2014/ND-CP are VND 1,126 billion; loans under Decree 67/2014/ND-CP are VND 1,126 billion; Decisions 63,65,68 on support policies to reduce losses in agriculture are 1,643 billion VND; loans to support poor districts according to Resolution 30a/2008/NQ-CP are 900 billion VND). Total structured debt balance (principal and interest) according to Circular 02 is about 36,000 billion VND (principal about 33,000 billion VND, interest about 3,000 billion VND) with about 4,100 customers.
Regarding the loan policy with interest rate support according to Decree No. 31/2022/ND-CP for loans from enterprises, cooperatives, and business households, by the end of November 2023, Agribank has provided support for loans from enterprises, cooperatives, and business households. Interest rate subsidies for 925 customers with 9,867 disbursements, 1,287 contracts at 116 branches with loan turnover of 14,891 billion VND, outstanding debt of 4,409 billion VND, interest rate support amount of about 92 billion VND.
Particularly for lending policies serving agricultural and rural development according to Decree No. 55/2015/ND-CP and Decree No. 116/2018/ND-CP, Mr. Le Hong Phuc – Deputy General Director of Agribank said. know, based on the amendment to Point b, Clause 2, Article 9 of Decree No. 116 amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 55 on credit policies serving agricultural and rural development, stipulating that borrowers do not have collateral assets of “maximum 200 million VND for individuals and households residing in rural areas”, therefore for lending above the level prescribed in Decree 55 and Decree 116 on the mechanism Loan guarantees apply without collateral. Borrowers must comply with regulations on guarantees in credit granting activities according to the provisions of law and Agribank.
Currently, Agribank also accepts mortgage assets that are perennial trees, annual trees, and planted production forests with a maximum credit limit of 50% of the collateral assets. For mortgaging assets formed in the future that are products harvested in the future, banks have difficulty determining the volume and value of assets as well as managing collateral and potential assets. many risks due to natural disasters, floods, epidemics, and climate change.
Mr. Phuc said that during the lending process, Agribank also realized inadequacies in implementing the loan guarantee mechanism for customers in rural areas. Specifically: According to regulations, houses and residential land must be issued with a Certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets on land. But in reality today, in rural areas, many households are not granted property ownership certificates, therefore, they are not eligible to mortgage houses built on land. Therefore, the valuation of mortgaged assets is difficult, the value of land in agricultural and rural areas is low while the demand for loans is high.
Up to now, lending under Decree 55, customer loan demand in this field is increasing due to rising input costs. From the reality of lending to the rural agricultural sector over the past many years, Agribank has also proposed that the State Bank propose to the Government to amend Decree 55 in the direction of increasing the level of unsecured loans for customers and proposed to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Natural Resources and Environment accelerates the issuance of Land Use Rights Certificates so that people can borrow capital and Agribank can conveniently monitor and manage when receiving this type of document.
Therefore, to create favorable conditions for people in agricultural and rural areas to expand investment and economic development in this field, Agribank requests that the State Bank submit to the Government to promulgate a policy mechanism on money security. loans in accordance with the loan needs for production and business of individuals and households in agricultural and rural areas so that credit institutions in general and Agribank in particular have a legal basis in the process. Implement lending to the agricultural and rural sectors.
As a participant in the Prime Minister’s Conference on dialogue with farmers over the past 5 years, Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu, representing the Banking industry, affirmed that with the Banking industry, rural agriculture is always a priority field, without There is no limit or restriction mechanism, there is even an incentive and priority mechanism for commercial banks to carry out this task.
Currently, the total outstanding debt of the economy is about 13.4 million billion VND, while rural agriculture is 3.3 million billion VND, 1/4 of the outstanding debt of the economy, credit growth for rural agriculture is regular. maintained at the highest level in all fields, accounting for about 10-12% annually, including years with epidemics or difficulties like recent times.
He emphasized that the State Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture will submit to the Prime Minister to expand the subjects of Decree 55, more suitable to the actual conditions and current agricultural and rural development orientation of the Party and State. This is also the hope of farmers when they can directly dialogue with the Prime Minister at the Conference.