Việt Nam and New Zealand enhanced cooperation in agriculture

On October 20, in Hanoi, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh had a meeting with Ms. Wendy Matthews, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of New Zealand to Vietnam. The two sides discussed about cooperation activities in the coming time.

At the meeting, Ms. Wendy Matthews said “Agriculture is the focus of New Zealand's economy so New Zealand is very interested in greenhouse gas emission in agriculture. Cooperation in research between the two countries under the Global Research Coalition on GHG emission reduction in agriculture plays a very important role. Within the framework of the Global Research Alliance, New Zealand will contribute NZ $ 10 million, of which Vietnam will be the first partner. Experts from the two countries held many meetings to discuss issues related to this field. When deployed, New Zealand will focus on measuring emissions from livestock”.

The Ambassador affirmed “Cooperation between the two countries in the framework of the Global Research Coalition will enhance our collaboration in agriculture, especially in the field of climate change response”.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh acknowledged the Ambassador's contribution in promoting the cooperative relationship between the two countries. Up to now, many projects have been implemented effectively with the high consensus of the two countries. Vietnam strongly supported the Global Research Coalition to reduce greenhouse gas emission in agriculture. Vietnam has also begun implementing research programs on greenhouse gas emission in agriculture, including livestock, farming, forestry, and fisheries.

Regarding New Zealand's proposal for a Vietnam - New Zealand Agreement on Agriculture Cooperation, Ms. Wendy Matthews expressed her wish that the Agreement could be signed soon by the end of 2020.

Ms. Wendy Matthews also shared the damages and losses of Vietnam caused by natural disasters in the Central Vietnam. She said the Embassy of New Zealand in Vietnam was planning to cooperate in relief for the Central region.

New Zealand is currently implementing a number of ODA projects in Vietnam such as the Dam Safety Project, the Safe Vegetables Project in Binh Dinh and the Dragon Fruit Project in Tien Giang. The Dam Safety Project was implemented by the University of Water Resources in Nghe An, Ha Tinh from 2016 - 2021 to minimize the risks and damage to people and assets due to a dam failure. The Safe Vegetable project was implemented by Binh Dinh Department of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2016 - 2021 to improve farmers' income and people’s health. The project on development of new high-quality fruit varieties (dragon fruits), implemented by the Southern Fruit and Vegetable Institute from 2018 to 2020, aiming to develop new high-quality dragon fruit varieties and new plantation methods to improve dragon fruit productivity and quality in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh said that fruit trees are a staple of Vietnam's agriculture. The Deputy Minister expressed his hope that with his experience in building New Zealand's value chain of fruit trees, especially kiwifruit, New Zealand could help Vietnam promote export of fruit products, especially dragon fruit. .

Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh and the Ambassador both believed that the relationship between Vietnam and New Zealand would continue to develop, especially in the agricultural sector.