At the policy dialogue Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources signed two agreements at the second high-level agricultural policy dialogue in Canberra on May 8.
The signed documents comprise a Letter of Intent on a strategy for agricultural research in 2017-2027 and a Memorandum of Understanding on the prevention of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU).
Under the co-chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh and Australian Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Water Resources Malcolm Thompson, the two sides reviewed the bilateral cooperation in agriculture and discussed various issues to boost farm produce trade such as approaching and opening markets for animal and plant products and devising policies for technical assistance.
They mentioned cooperation in fisheries and forestry in the coming time and shared policy priorities and challenges in agricultural research and development, water resources management, and organic food.
Additionally, the two sides studied coordination mechanisms among working groups in specific fields along with the provision of official development assistance (ODA), and the enhancement of scientific research.
Deputy Secretary Thompson reiterated the commitment of the Australian government to promoting agricultural ties with Vietnam, as evidenced by the assignment of a counsellor of agriculture at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam from 2016./.