Vietnam, Australia to set up working group for agribusiness promotion

The agreement was reached during their agriculture policy dialogue on November 22 and 23.

At the function, David John Parker, Australian Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Water Resources, said the group should be established as soon as possible so that it could work on prioritized contents agreed by both sides and produce practical results in the next six months.

He assigned Amy Guihot, agricultural trade counselor at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, to coordinate with relevant Vietnamese agencies in the establishment of the joint working team.

On the Vietnamese side, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh tasked the Department of International Cooperation with working with the Australian side in setting up the group by the year’s end.   

He said the group would deliver advice on the trade of farming products, technical barriers and animal and plant quarantine processes.

At the dialogue, both sides came up with proposals to give a boost to bilateral trade of agricultural products.

Guihot said access to each other’s fruit and vegetable market should be a priority for both countries.  

Vietnam, meanwhile, reiterated its wish to access the Australian market of live seafood, particularly shrimp and basses.

The market for forestry products was also high on the agenda, with Vietnam suggesting building detailed guidelines with the involvement of the business community in order to promote the trade of timber and other forestry products. 

Other issues mentioned at the meeting were policies in managing drought and water resources.