(VOVworld) – The agriculture and rural development sector held a conference on Tuesday to review its performance in 2015 and discuss plans for 2016 and up to 2020.

In an address, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the sector to improve its state management and create favorable conditions for investments in agriculture and new rural development. He stressed the need to step up agricultural reform, encourage farmers to apply technological advances, and build technical barriers that conform to international norms in order to protect the domestic market and producers. He said: “In a time of a market economy we must continue to improve our competitiveness and accelerate integration. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should accelerate reforms in agriculture and forestry over the next 5 years.”