Vietnam, Netherlands share cultivation experience

VNA/VOV

A seminar took place in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11 to discuss experience and form partnerships in cultivation between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said agriculture is important to Vietnam’s economy, with cultivation accounting for 75% of agricultural production value.

Currently, there are seven home-grown produces that earn over USD 1 billion from exports each year. Four of them rake in USD 3 billion, including rice, coffee, fruit, and cashew nuts.

The cultivation sector strives to achieve an annual growth of 2-2.5% in production value and export turnover of USD 22 billion by 2020.

However, it faces intense competition with other sectors in terms of workforce and land. The farming scale remains sporadic with limited adoption of technological advances.

In the near future, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality will step up technical projects in agriculture and encourage Dutch investment in the field in the form of foreign direct investment and public-private partnerships.

Dutch Vice Minister of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality Marjolijn Sonnema said cultivation has a big share in the Netherlands’ farm produce exports and the European country is ready to share its experience with Vietnam in this field.

According to her, a number of joint projects have been launched in Vietnam, especially in the Mekong Delta.

At the seminar, several Dutch firms introduced farming technologies, measures to build a supply value chain, and preservation and post-harvest technologies used in the Netherlands and other countries worldwide.

Jean Marie Rozec, Executive Director of Rijk Zwaan Vietnam, stressed the need to form close partnerships between farmers and distributors, choose quality varieties, and adopt modern preservation technology.

The seminar was co-hosted by the Dutch Trade and Economic Mission, the Grow Asia organisation, and VNU Exhibitions Asia-Pacific.