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Philippines remains Vietnam’s biggest rice importer

Vietnam views the Philippines as one of its most important rice importers, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has told visiting Secretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr..
Philippines remains Vietnam’s biggest rice importer ảnh 1Illustrative photo (Photo:VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam views thePhilippines as one of its most important rice importers, Vietnamese Minister ofIndustry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has told visiting Secretary of the PhilippineDepartment of Agriculture Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr..

Currently, the Philippines is Vietnam’s sixthbiggest trading partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andthe 16th in the world. It remains Vietnam’s biggest rice buyer. Lastyear, two-way trade reached 7.8 billion USD, down only 0.1%.

Dien stressed the significance of Laurel’s visit to bilateral trade, especially the rice trade, and affirmed that the two countriesare important trade partners of each other in Southeast Asia.

Within the framework of the state visit to Vietnamby Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. on January 29 and 30, the Vietnamese Ministryof Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the Philippine Department of Agriculturesigned a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trade.

The deal set out major cooperation orientations andactivities to boost collaboration in rice trade in the next five years. Itdemonstrates the friendship and good cooperation between the two countries, andis expected to benefit both economies.

Dien suggested the two sides build a plan to materialise the MoU after it takes effect, urged Laurel to instructconcerned agencies to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development to implement procedures on food safety andsanitary and phytosanitary measures, and soon open doors for each other's fruits andmeat products.

The two sides should optimise the existing bilateralcooperation mechanisms, especially the Vietnam - Philippines joint tradesubcommittee, he added.

Laurel, for his part, shared Dien’s view on the twocountries’ potential for agricultural product trade, noting Vietnamese rice accountsfor 85% of imported rice in the Philippines.
He suggested Vietnam shared its forecast for riceproduction this year, and suggested the country maintain its stable rice supplyto the Philippines.

Dien affirmed that Vietnam stands ready to supplyrice to the Philippines in a stable and long-term manner./.
VNA
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