At the reception (Source: VNA)Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong has expressed his hope that trade value between Vietnam and Iran will soon reach 2 billion USD.
At a reception for Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament on October 24, Cuong said the ninth meeting of the Vietnam-Iran Committee on Economic and Commercial Cooperation in July 15-16, 2017 affirmed that the two countries boast huge potential for cooperation across fields.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), as head of the Vietnam-Iran Friendship Cooperation Subcommittee, reported outcomes of the meeting to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, who later assigned specific tasks to relevant agencies to improve the efficiency of cooperation in all spheres.
In the realm of agriculture, in August 2017, the ministry invited 30 Vietnamese businesses to participate in a seminar on trade and investment promotion in the Mideast, including Iran, Cuong said, adding that a number of enterprises will also attend another trade promotion event in Iran to be held by the MARD and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in November 2017.
He said the Department of Animal Health and the Plant Protection Department have been assigned to study and remove technical barriers to animal health and plant protection so as to push export activities of the two countries.
The minister suggested Iran ship fish and bone powder to Vietnam and import rice, banana and lemon from the Southeast Asian nation, saying many Vietnamese firms want to come to Iran to explore investment and business opportunities in the country.
He also called on the two sides to step up collaboration in construction material production, petro-chemistry and bauxite.
For his part, Alaeddin Boroujerdi proposed the two countries cooperate in the banking and oil and gas sectors, join hands to organise exhibitions, remove technical barriers to animal health and plant protection, and study preferential trade agreements. He also suggested Vietnam import medicines produced by Iran.
Iran will provide free-of-charge venues for Vietnamese businesses at exhibitions in Iran, he said, calling for similar support from the Vietnamese side./.