Vietnam's agriculture in the context of regionalisation and globalisation: Opportunities and challenges

摘要

Vietnam is an agricultural country with over 77 million people, 76.5% of them living m rural areas. Agricultural land accounts for 22.2% of the total area of the country. Agricultural production has a great influence on national economic development. Looking back on the national economic development process, particularly of agriculture, it can be outlined as follows: --Before 1988: the Vietnamese economy had been operating under the centralised planning mechanism. All the land and materials for agricultural production were under State ownership. Agricultural production was centrally planned by the Government of Vietnam (GOV). --Since 1988: the GOV launched the campaign for economic renovation, with the focus on agricultural production. New policies have been introduced. Profound reforms have also taken place in the agricultural sector. With adoption of the renovation policy great achievements have been made in agriculture, among which the most outstanding is food production. The process of regionalisation is taking place worldwide and is a common trend for all the countries including Vietnam. In 1995 Vietnam became a full member of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and has participated in most regional organisations and agreements, including the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group, and is preparing to join the World Trade Organization. New opportunities arc open for Vietnam. e.g. exchange trade, and economic and financial cooperation with member countries including developed countries. On the other hand, the country is facing great challenges as it is bound to implement commitments made when joining these organisations, such as reduction in tariffs and removal of non-tariff barriers. This means that Vietnam's economy in general, and agriculture m particular, will be subject to tougher competition. The paper also recommends measures to be considered and taken to improve the competitiveness of Vietnam's agriculture.