Bac Giang keen on cooperating with Italia in agricultural production, processing

Bac Giang (VNA) – Leaders of the northern province of Bac Giang on February 18 had a working session with Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro, during which they expressed their hope to partner with Italy in agricultural production and processing.

The Italian diplomat, who was visiting Bac Giang for the first time, expressed his interest in two major strengths of the province - agriculture and wood processing. He said he hopes that in the time to come, Italian firms will get connected with Bac Giang peers to share experience and seek technology transfer in the fields.

He also underlined the cooperation potential between the two sides in education and human resources training, noting that the number of Vietnamese students arriving Italy for studying is rising through years.

Currently, there are some scholarships for Vietnamese students, he said, adding that the Italian side hopes to work with the provincial Department of Education and Training and local schools to choose outstanding students to offer them with scholarships. Italy will also provide short-term courses to local young officials, he said.

The ambassador said he hopes a number of Italian cultural events will be held in Bac Giang in the near future.

For his part, Chairman of the Bac Giang People’s Committee Le Anh Duong briefed the Italian diplomat on local strengths and potential as well as the province's cooperation orientations.

He said that areas mentioned by the ambassador are also Bac Giang’s interest, especially the application of high technology in agricultural production and processing.

Bac Giang is the country's largest Thieu litchi growing area, which is providing hundreds of thousands of the product to more than 30 markets, he said, adding that the province hopes to receive transfer of high technology in processing fresh litchi. Bac Giang considers Italy as an important market and a gateway to Europe, he stressed.

Duong said that in the coming time, Bac Giang will work with experienced Italian firms in agricultural product processing, and asked the ambassador for his support in the work.

Bac Giang will also consider the coordination with the Italian embassy to hold cultural, tourism and sports activities, he said.

Last year, Bac Giang exported 36.61 million USD worth of products to Italy, while importing 4.14 million USD worth of goods from the European country.

On the occasion, the Italian delegation visited Vifoco, a local agricultural processing firm in Son Khe commune of Bac Giang city, and Hoa Phu industrial park in Hiep Hoa district.

In 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected traditional business activities, distribution and export of agricultural products of Bac Giang province. Therefore, the sale of agricultural products in general and litchi in particular on e-commerce platforms is considered one of the important and effective solutions.

Bac Giang had a successful litchi crop in terms of output, quality and consumption market. As a result, this was the first time that Bac Giang sold more than 8,000 tonnes of litchi on e-commerce platforms, of which more than 8 tonnes were exported to European countries through cross-border ones.

Bac Giang province will continue to restructure its agriculture sector from now to 2025, focusing on supporting and investing in hi-tech agriculture development, according to Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le O Pich.

Specifically, by 2025, Bac Giang strives to have 40 percent of the value of agricultural and aquatic products produced in line with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) or equivalent, the value of agricultural, forestry and aquatic products applying high technology reaching 20 percent, and the average production value per hectare of agricultural land hitting 140 million VND (6,153 USD).

The province will also make efforts to have about 50 percent of agricultural cooperatives engaged in hi-tech application activities, in which, at least one third of cooperatives have applications of advanced technologies such as: biotechnology, genetics, microbiology, and automation technologies.

In the coming time, Bac Giang will focus on carrying out new mechanisms and policies to boost hi-tech agricultural development./.