Czech Minister of Agriculture Marek Vyborny speaks at the forum. (Photo: VNA) Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Nguyen Quoc Tri emphasised that the relations between the twocountries have been continuously strengthened and developed over the past sevendecades, and positive progress have been recorded in agricultural cooperation.
He expressed thehope that the Czech Republic will support Vietnam in implementing the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest LawEnforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) between Vietnam and the European Union (EU), and strengthen cooperation withthe Southeast Asian nation in managing sustainable forest resources, implementing theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES), and promoting legal trade of timber and forest products.
“We hope that the Czech Republic willrecognise Vietnam's efforts in fighting illegal,unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU), and lend its support to urge the European Commission (EC) tolift its “yellow card” warning against Vietnamese seafood exports,” Tri said.
Vyborny said he welcomes the enhancedcooperation in agriculture, food industry, and water resource managementbetween Vietnam and the Czech Republic, saying that his country aims to promoteeducation and training in the agriculture sector.
During this visit, representatives from the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague may connect with educational andtraining institutions in Vietnam regarding agriculture, forestry, and sustainableuse of agricultural products in Vietnam, he said.
According to Vyborny, Vietnamese partners are eager to penetrate theCzech market and demonstrate their interest in traditional sectors of theEuropean nation such as beer, meat, spirit, and confectionery production,agricultural technology, food industry, animal husbandry technology, and veterinaryproducts.
Vietnam's export turnover to the Czech Republic isabout 10 times higher than the latter's exports to the Southeast Asian nation. Therefore, in the comingtime, Vietnam may support the Czech Republic in exporting meat products, andthe two sides can soon reach consensus on veterinary requirements and foodsafety standards for products from the Czech Republic, the minister said.
He suggested the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment of Vietnam send a working delegation to the Czech Republic as soonas possible to assess livestock production and epidemiology.
The Czech Republic is keen on expanding cooperationwith Vietnam in farming because it has one of the world's most reputablecompanies in exporting seeds of grass and vegetables, and new plant varieties,which bring high profits to growers, he added./.
VNA
