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The General Department of Statistics reports that last year the growth rate of agricultural machinery across the country reached almost 50.5 percent over the previous year but the pace of agricultural mechanisation stood at 10.5 percent only. On average, Vietnam presently has just six agricultural machines for every 1,000ha of arable land, while in Germany, Holland and Denmark it is 124, 91 and 58, respectively. The figure shows that the agricultural mechanisation ratio of Vietnam is a mere 0.25HP/ha compared to 5.4, 4.06 for Germany and Holland and 1.4HP/ha in South Korea.
The Vietnam Engine and Agricultural Machinery Corporation (VEAM) is now one of the major suppliers of agricultural machines and equipment, helping actively boost the process of mechanising agricultural production as well as industrialising and modernising rural areas in the country. The corporation achieved a number of good results last year, including a growth rate of 4.3 percent for diesel engines and 48 percent for bearings. The corporation's engines and agricultural machinery market was adversely affected last year due to the Asian economic storm, and thus exports of the corporation fell sharply to just 40 percent over 1997 in terms of output and 70 percent in...