Addressing a conference in My Tho City, Tien Giang province, on Wednesday, the Prime Minister told regional leaders that early measures in place will minimize losses and ensure safe water for livelihood. He said, “We should promote production restructuring and harvesting schedule. Vietnam’s food exports could top the world this year and pave the way for further expansion of farming acreage, especially when Vietnamese rice exports to the EU enjoy a zero percent tariff. But given the drought impacts, we should think twice about the crop areas for Winter-Spring crops. Next solution could be storage of fresh water during the current rainy season for household use, drainage clean-up and irrigation system upgrade.”

The Prime Minister also asked for application of advanced technology available in the world to minimize the impacts of drought and salt intrusion.