It is necessary to promote the role of farmers as true stakeholders and the center of the development of agriculture and the rural economy and the building of new-style rural areas, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has said.

Addressing the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU)’s 8th National Congress in Hanoi on December 26, General Secretary Trong noted that as farmers are aging and declining in number while redundant workers in urban areas and industrial parks are moving to rural areas to seek agricultural livelihoods, VFU chapters at all levels need to reform their working methodology to be capable of fulfilling tasks and assisting farmers over the next five years and beyond.

VFU chapters at all levels should reform their working methodology and content and uphold their role in implementing socio-economic development projects and master plans in rural areas, he said.

It is also necessary to increase vocational training for farmers and rural workers, provide job consultancy, and encourage farmers to participate in building smart rural areas with the application of digital technology.