The application of technology in agricultural production is crucial for the sector’s sustainable development and the competitive enhancement of produce price and quality, Truong Quang Hoai Nam, Vice Chairman of the Can Tho People’s Committee, told Dai Doan Ket newspaper.

He highlighted that post-harvest losses remains high, ranging between 20-25 percent, and attributed them to the lack of technological application in preserving and processing agricultural products.

Echoing the Vice Chairman’s opinion, agricultural experts have argued that technologies help enhance domestic businesses in integration.

The paper cited the speech of Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan during the recent TECHFEST Viet Nam 2015 , in which he said that Viet Nam will play its part in the world economy as a member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other multi-lateral trade agreements.

He urged domestic firms to update the technology at their disposal to better compete in the free, fair and non-tariff markets in the region and the world.

According to a survey of 100 firms in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City conducted by the ministry, as many as 90 percent of them still use technology and machinery of the 1980s. It also revealed that only three percent of domestic firms’ annual revenue was allocated for technology investment, and only seven percent of their staff have technological skills and expertise.

(Sourrce: VNA)