Addressing the meeting, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Dong Thap Province, Nguyen Huu Dung, said that the Covid-19 epidemic has had great impact on the consumption of agricultural products as most are exported to China. Several agricultural products are facing huge stockpiles including sweet potato (11,000 tonnes), chili (6,700 tonnes), longan (1,200 tonnes), and others.

Dung recommended the State should have policies to support cooperatives and producers regarding costs of transportation, banking loans, storage and logistics.

Director of the Trade Promotion Agency in Dong Nai Province, Nguyen Thi Lan, said that the volume of the province’s farm produce in need of consumption is quite large, about 85,000 tonnes of banana and 59,000 tonnes of mango. If the epidemic continues, many kinds of local agricultural products will be affected by the epidemic.

If China continues to halt transactions through border gates, Dong Nai’s agricultural products that are going to be harvested soon, such as rambutan, durian, jackfruit, and others, will suffer heavy losses, Lan said.

Thus, the province suggested the MoIT to assist the province in connecting with distributors to consume its local products, Lan noted.

Binh Thuan Province also pointed out their difficulties as their main farm produce of dragon fruit is at the time of harvest and some 7,685 tonnes are piling up at cold stores.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that the support for the purchase and consumption of agricultural products must have a long-term vision, not only for piled up products in case of prolonged epidemic.

Hai hoped that retail systems will join hands to support farmers amid the epidemic. He also asked provinces to improve the quality of agricultural products combined with deep processing and diversifying markets.

At the meeting, representatives of several supermarkets and distributors including Vincommerce, Hapro, and MM Mega Market signed commitments with provincial Departments of Industry and Trade to buy agricultural products that are piling up.

On the same day, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong worked with leaders and enterprises in Long An Province, focusing on agricultural production in the locality amid the Covid-19 epidemic.