Vietnam and Japan held their first high-level dialogue on agricultural development cooperation in Hanoi on June 26.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said that the event aimed to seek a consensus on a draft of bilateral cooperation in building medium- and long-term visions for the comprehensive development of Vietnam ’s agricultural sector and work towards specific activities for the 2015-19 period and beyond.

In the coming time, the two sides will focus on cooperation in science, technology and the application of new technologies in agricultural production, processing and post-harvest preservation in order to increase the food value chain.

The Japanese side presented a dialogue cooperation framework and shared their future plans, stressing the importance of building a food value chain strategy.

Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Hayashi Yoshimasa appreciated Vietnam’s potential for agricultural development with favourable conditions in human resources, land and climate, noting that over the past time, many Japanese businesses have seen effective investment in this field in the country.-VNA