According to Dr. Dang Kim Son, Director of the Institute of Strategies and Policies for Agriculture and Rural Development (ISPARD), Vietnam’s agricultural exports have been growing steadily. The country has succeeded in ensuring food security, and over the last decade rice input per capita has risen from 445 kg/year to more than 500kg/year. This has kept 50 percent of the labour force employed and contributed to 20 percent of the GDP annually.

However, Dr. Son says, there has been a gradual erosion of investment shares year by year, and if the situation doesn’t improve, the local agricultural sector will face many more future challenges.

The fact is that the proportion of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the agricultural sector has dropped from 8 percent in 2001 to less than 1 percent at present vis-à-vis overall investment. One reason the sector is failing to attract domestic and foreign investors is due to its poor technical infrastructure.

The World Bank (WB) reports that Vietnam has developed from a food-hunger country into a world leading agricultural exporter. Its key export items include rice, coffee, tea, pepper and cashew nut. Yet, its export value still remains low, forcing the country to make changes to lure more investors from Vietnam and abroad.

Economists say Vietnam should tighten the link between public and private sectors to overhaul its agricultural sector. In fact, the country has produced many successful agricultural farm models, such as vast rice fields in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang and a large coffee growing area of Thai Hoa Group in the northwestern region.

In the current context of food shortages in the world, economists suggest not only agricultural businesses but also multinational groups should increase investment in the sector to ensure food security. They predict that in the next ten years, food prices will rise sharply and the agricultural sector will become an even more sustainable source of income.