Reliance on imports costs VN dearly

Viet Nam spent nearly US$16 billion on imports of seafood, agro-forestry products and raw materials in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 31.1 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Workers transport bags of fertiliser at the Sai Gon Port in HCM City. Viet Nam's seafood, agro-forestry products and raw material imports rose in value to US$16 billion during 2011.

In December alone, it cost the country $1.4 billion to purchase these commodities from foreign countries, an increase of $100 million over the previous month.

The ministry said that the amount of seafood, agro-forestry products and raw materials used to serve the agriculture, aquaculture and forestry industries had climbed sharply.

According to the ministry, fertiliser prices had risen the most.

"Around 4.4 million tonnes of fertiliser have been imported since the beginning of the year, totalling $1.8 billion. This equates to an increase of 24.8 per cent in volume and 50.9 per cent in value in comparison with last year," it said.

The ministry added that most fertiliser was imported from China, accounting for 41.6 per cent of total imports.

Imports of pesticide also increased, the ministry reported.

"In the first 11 months, pesticide imports hit $631 million, up nearly 17 per cent against the same period in 2010," it said.

Imports of timber and wood-based products also saw a yearly increase of 14 per cent with a total value of $13 billion, while imports of animal feed reached $2.3 billion, up 6.8 per cent.

"Although a predominantly agricultural country, Viet Nam still had to import seeds to meet 80 per cent of the total demand, worth $200 million per year," said Bui Chi Buu, director of the Southern Agriculture Science and Technology Institute.

Buu said that Viet Nam still imported seeds despite the fact that it could produce its own for crops such as potatoes and cucumbers.

"We should look into ways of reducing imports," he said.

Experts said the country needed to apply modern technology to producing seafood and agro-forestry products to meet domestic demand.

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