Animal husbandry and feed companies in Vietnam and the Netherlands will cooperate in quality registration, management, food safety, and enhance closer relations between breeders and businesses.

Henk Bleker, Dutch Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Trade, made the statement at a workshop on the value chain in pig breeding and food safety, held in Ho Chi Minh City on March 31.

Dutch firms are encouraged to boost long-term cooperation and business with Vietnam , he said, adding that the firms concentrate on both profits and attention to the environment, labour, and human relations.

Vietnam ’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Diep Kinh Tan said that breeding accounts for 27-28 percent of the agricultural sector’s output. Vietnam aims to become an industrialised country by 2020 with the breeding sector making up 42 percent of agricultural production value.

The country devised the strategy on breeding development by 2020, which creates a legal basis for the husbandry sector to develop and access the value chain from farm to dining table, combined with food hygiene safety and environmental protection.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s call for investment in value chain projects have gained support and cooperation from many countries, including the Netherlands .

At the workshop, both sides signed a letter of intent for projects in agriculture.

The workshop was held on the occasion of the visit to Vietnam by Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Maxima./.