Hopes are high for new agricultural treasury

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday expressed confidence in the newly established National Agricultural Treasury, saying it would provide more comprehensive services for farmers and fishermen and inject more resources and vigor into the nation's agricultural and fishing communities.

"The establishment of the National Agricultural Treasury demonstrates the government's determination to undertake reform ... [I am] confident that with the assistance and advice of the treasury, the credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations will no longer be a risk to the overall financial system but a strong competitor in the market," Chen said during a reception for treasury officials at the Presidential Office.

Starting today, the treasury will oversee all credit departments of the nation's agricultural and fishery associations. The treasury will be supervised by the Council of Agriculture.

In recent years, due to unclear organizational structures and a lack of professional management, the credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations had acquired a non-performing loan ratio as high as 25 percent.

Noting special nature of agricultural financial services and that the services provided by the associations could not be replaced by commercial banks, Chen said that the government decided to establish the treasury after an assessment one year ago to strengthen the management of agricultural finances and improve the efficiency and quality of the credit departments.

Chen the farmers' and fishermen's associations were the backbone of the nation's agricultural development, "and that without [them], there would not be an agricultural industry, let alone the economic miracle which Taiwan later came to achieve."

"Over time, each farmer and fisherman association has depended more and more on the revenue of its credit department," Chen said.

"If the credit department runs into problems, it would not only severely affect the development of these associations but would have a direct bearing on the financial market as a whole," he said.

"Only when the credit departments ... have developed comprehensively can the associations themselves grow strongly and the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen be guaranteed," he said.