The Farmers’ Association of Hung Yen city, in coordination with the city’s Post Office, organised training sessions last month on e-commerce and how to put agricultural products on sale on digital platforms. The sessions coached 60 cadres and association members in the locality.
Participants were guided on how to download and register on the postmart.vn platform, and use the Postmart mobile app to create accounts, process orders, and handle complaints. The training session also promoted the benefits of selling agricultural products via e-commerce.
In the first six months of this year, the state-owned Vietnam Post Corporation (VNpost) and farmers’ associations of provinces and cities held 1,564 training courses on e-commerce and digital transformation. They also focused on promoting the dissemination of information and organising programmes that facilitate the sale of agricultural products nationwide through Postmart and their points of sale. As a result, more than 1,000 tonnes of agricultural produce have been sold through 420 connection programmes between the two units.
According to an official, to achieve the goal of connecting 2.9 million farming households to the Postmart e-commerce platform by the end of this year, the two units will expand effective models while carrying out safe agricultural production supply chains as well as assisting farmers in the digital transformation process.
Further, the Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers’ Association, Nguyen Xuan Dinh, noted that it has asked members to be more active in collaborating with local post offices to update information and organise training to enhance the capacity of farming households on e-commerce platforms.
The northern province of Hung Yen is home to about 4,800 hectares of longan, a tropical fruit. Of this figure, more than 1,300 hectares meet VietGAP standards, mostly in Hung Yen city, Khoai Chau, Kim Dong, Tien Lu, Phu Cu, and An Thi districts. Total longan output is over 40,000 tonnes per year. Last year, Hung Yen longan made its debut on several e-commerce platforms, such as sendo.vn and postmart.vn. Last year, Vietnam exported over 117,500 tonnes of longan, including over 11,000 tonnes of fresh produce.
In August, the government approved a national programme for smart rural development. As OpenGov Asia reported, the programme focuses on building new, modern rural areas through digital transformation. It is expected to boost the rural economy, improve rural living standards, and bridge the gap in service quality between rural and urban areas.
The initiative will be implemented in all rural areas across Vietnam by the end of 2025, including extremely disadvantaged communes in ethnic minorities and mountainous and coastal regions. By 2025, the government aims to have at least 90% of central, 80% of district-level, and 60% of communal public documents handled online. And at least 97% of communes should meet the new-style rural criteria on information and telecommunications.
Further, to boost the rural economy, the plan will promote the digital economy. Accordingly, at least 70% of communes will have cooperatives and 70% of districts will have agricultural business models, which will connect the production and distribution of key farming products using digital technology. Additionally, at least 40% of communes and districts should be able to provide at least one essential public service in healthcare, education, community surveillance, security, environment, and culture.
