|
No goods' shortages over Tet, says minister
Prices of essential goods, especially food and foodstuff, have risen consistently in the runup to the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat spoke to the media about consumer concerns.
How does the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development plan to ensure that shops not to run out of essential items leading up to Tet?
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has collected information on supply and demand for agricultural products, especially food.
We have found that there might be problems with supplies of meat, salt and sugar. We are consulting relevant agencies to offset shortages.
The ministry will instruct municipal and provincial agriculture and rural departments to help farmers boost output, particularly of meat during Tet.
According to our assessment, there are currently no shortages. However, there is still more than a month to go before Tet, so we will closely watch the market and take timely action when required.
There has been a recent surge in import of agricultural products. Are these imports necessary to meet consumer demand over Tet?
The import of certain agricultural products has risen over the last few years. However, these imports have been chiefly goods that our country cannot produce or produces in insignificant quantities such as wheat, maize and cotton. We also have to import raw materials such as seafood, timber and rubber to supply local producers.
However, we recently had to import a significant volume of vegetables from China due to severe flooding, which hit supplies and pushed up prices.
However, recently imports have decreased as domestic supply has risen.
Traders are buying large quantities of Vietnamese agricultural goods to export to China. Will this hit domestic supplies?
It is true that Chinese traders are buying Vietnamese produce, particularly meat, cassava and seafood as the price in the domestic market is lower than that in China. However, these are seasonal goods and it is in accordance with our law on commerce and our commitment to the World Trade Organisation.
The purchases are pushing up prices on the domestic market. However, the rise is insignificant and simply boosting farmers' profits.
If prices rise too high and the surge does not benefit farmers while hurting consumers, we will certainly take action to deal with it.
Of course, greater demand for agricultural produce will drive prices up, affecting both consumers and processors. However, we need to balance the interests of farmers with that of consumers. If farmers are benefiting then I don't think that is a bad thing. When prices rise, farmers are more likely to increase production.
As for processors, they should adjust production accordingly, I think they should sign long-term agreements with farmers at fixed rates.
vietnamnews
|
