Vietnam, Cambodia to enhance agro-forestry-fishery cooperation

Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong (fourth, right) and Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon (fifth, right) and other officials at the meeting (Photo: dantri.com.vn)

The meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong and Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon took place within the framework of the 40th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) and the 18th AMAF Plus Three (AMAF+3) meet-up in Hanoi.

They reviewed cooperation outcomes and expressed their wish to step up bilateral ties.

Minister Cuong said that agriculture plays an important role in holding up the economy of each country. The two agriculture industries also compliment each other well and as such, Vietnam will provide the best possible support for each side to develop.

Minister Veng Sakhon appreciated Vietnam’s technical assistance for Cambodia’s agriculture, noting that cassava prices in his country are falling sharply due to the spread of disease. Cambodia hopes that Vietnam will further assist its market to deal with diseases of the cassava plant and increase the buying prices of cassava in border areas.

Sharing Vietnam’s experience in dealing with cassava diseases, the host official said his ministry is ready to give technical support, including new cassava varieties, to Cambodia.

He said some agricultural products of Cambodia like cashew and rubber hold great development potential. He pledged to promote the Vietnam Rubber Group’s investment in processing facilities as scheduled and to purchase Cambodian rubber latex at reasonable prices.

At the meeting, the two officials also talked about cooperation to remove the European Commission’s yellow-card warning against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the two countries’ fisheries sectors.

With regard to forestry, Cuong said Vietnam pays special attention to the sustainable development of the forest-based economy. Forest coverage in Vietnam reached 41.45% in 2017 and the country is striving to expand its forested surface area with certificates of sustainable forest management practices to about 1 million ha by 2030.

In recent years, the two sides have exchanged information about forestry and cooperated well in forest protection and development, sustainable forest management, forest certification, forestry product management, and forestry science, he added.