Vietnam and Australia promote agricultural trade

The remark was made by two representatives of the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment at the third Vietnam - Australia agriculture forum (VAAF), held in online form on June 30.

Addressing the forum, MARD Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said Vietnam wants Australia to promote market opening for some Vietnamese products including passion fruit. In addition, he hopes the two sides will continue to share information on the export fruit regions of Australia.

"In particular, it is recommended the Australian side consider that Vietnam can now use new chemicals to treat pre-germination of cut flowers, replacing the glyphoside that was previously used but the use of which has been stopped," Deputy Minister Le Quoc said.

He also suggested the specialised quarantine agencies of the two sides continue to organize meetings, working groups and techniques to solve problems.

“Vietnam is very interested in digital transformation and the application of new technologies in agricultural governance. The aim is for Vietnamese agricultural products to meet the safety and transparency requirements for 100 million people both for distribution in the country and for export," the Deputy Minister emphasized, asking for Australia's support on this.

The representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam highly lauded the efforts of the working groups in recent times, requesting the two sides jointly support these groups to operate more effectively and practically in the coming time in the spirit of promoting agricultural development between Vietnam and Australia.

On the Australian side, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Andrew Metcalfe expressed his agreement with Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh's opinion and shared: "I hope we will have more cooperation, not just stopping at agricultural trade".

Andrew Metcalfe added the third VAAF created an opportunity for the two sides to discuss many important issues of mutual concern.

At the forum, the groups of issues discussed were market access for animal and plant products, science, technology and policy cooperation, logical systems, and innovation in agriculture.

In particular, the Vietnamese side mentioned Australia's support so products such as unprocessed shrimp and passion fruit could soon access this market. As for Australia, proposals relating to meat such as kangaroo and deer as well as fruits such as peaches were discussed.