Gov't chief asks for ensuring food security for 100 million Vietnamese

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highlights that rice exports must be controlled to ensure food security in line with Decree 107/2018/ND-CP on rice export business at a meeting with permanent Government members, March 31, 2020 - Photo: VGP

The Government chief made that statement while chairing a meeting on March 31.

He tasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, relevant functional agencies and localities nationwide to accelerate agricultural production to guarantee food balance.

The leader asked the Minister of Industry and Trade to submit a report on rice export to the PM before April 5, with feedback from ministries concerned, which must ensure that domestic consumption demand will be met in any case, especially amid the adverse weather conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Finance Ministry was assigned to buy 190,000 tons of rice, 90,000 tons of unhusked rice or more for stockpiling in accordance with the national reserve target in 2020 as approved, thus meeting demand in contingency cases.

Last week, the PM asked for temporarily holding back signing new rice export contracts amid COVID-19 spreading.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the nation earned US$410 million from exporting 895,000 tons of rice in the first two months of 2020, up 32.6% in value and up 27% in volume compared to the same period last year.

By Thuy Dung