In the next two to three years, Vietnam will become a major importer of Australian live cattle with about 10,000 heads each year, second only to Indonesia.

The remark has been made by Willem Westra van Holthe, Minister of Primary Industry and Fisheries of the Northern Territory Government of Australia.

He also expressed his hope that Vietnam will increase the capacity of its abattoirs.

Australia exported for the first time 945 live oxen to Vietnam last year and another 1,500 earlier this month, worth nearly 1.5 million USD. A shipment of the same quantity is expected to be agreed on at the end of this year.

At a recent reception for representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy, van Holthe and the territory’s Trade Minister Peter Chandler highly valued the cooperation potentials between the two sides, pledging to further strengthen relations in trade and other fields between the territory and Vietnam’s regions.-VNA