THÁI BÌNH — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said on Saturday that business should be the main force in building a new-style agriculture and creating farm produce that meets consumer demand. Phúc, speaking at a conference in the northern province of Thái Bình, said the role of business is especially necessary in areas where the State economy accounts for much of the economic activity.

Speaking to participants of the conference, designed to promote investment in the province’s agriculture, Phúc urged Thái Bình to become a pioneer in getting rich from a smart, organic and clean agriculture. To succeed in agricultural development, it is also necessary to strengthen co-operation between the State, investors, farmers, scientists and banks, he added. 

At the conference – the biggest-ever held in Thái Bình - the province presented licences to 11 investment projects worth VNĐ2.016 trillion (US$87.65 million), while giving approval to investors to conduct research on 19 hi-tech agricultural product and aquaculture projects worth VNĐ20.925 trillion ($909.7 million). It also handed out investment certificates to three projects for the construction of roads in the build-transfer and build-operate-transfer model, with combined registered capital of VNĐ2.717 trillion ($118.1 million).

With 105,755 hectares of agricultural land and more than 1 million labourers, Thái Bình has become an attractive destination for investors in the agricultural sector, PM Phúc said.

The Prime Minister suggested Thái Bình focus on developing aquatic farming, as well as reform public investment and services so as to encourage the involvement of more businesses and investors in agricultural development. 

The Government leader asked the province to boost human resources training, intensify technology application, and invest more in building an agricultural trademark and bettering distribution systems.

Speaking at the conference, the chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, Nguyễn Hồng Diên, said local authorities always consider enterprises a driving force of local economic development and pledge to facilitate their operations. 

On the same day, PM Phúc visited the Thái Bình 1 Thermoelectric Power Plant and the Northern Low Pressure Gas Distribution Plant in Tiền Hải district. He also visited and presented gifts to several beneficiaries of the State’s welfare services in the district’s Tây Lương commune. — VNS