Vietnam, Laos step up agricultural cooperation

Vietnam and Laos have inked a MoU on boosting their comprehensive cooperation in agro-forestry, fisheries and rural development with a focus on science and technology, training, investment and trade.
Vietnam and Laos have inked a MoU on boosting their comprehensivecooperation in agro-forestry, fisheries and rural development with afocus on science and technology, training, investment and trade.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between VietnameseMinister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and LaoAgro-Forestry Minister Sitaheng Rasphone in Hanoi on September 14.

Under the MoU, which is part of the twoGovernments’ Cooperation Agreement, the two sides will continueimplementing projects to build agriculture-rural area-farmer developmentstrategies and zone off agricultural areas for Laos .

The MoU also mentions several new projects in 2011, including LaoFisheries Development Planning for 2011-2020, research on creating newvarieties of maize and upgrade of an animal quarantine post at theDensavanh border gate in Sepon district as well as a project ontransferring flood and drought management software.

The two countries’ agricultural ministries will strengthen bilateraland multilateral cooperation to realise their regional and internationalcommitments in the fields of climate change, reducing emissions fromdeforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), food security and safety,and strengthening management and enforcement of laws on forestry andforest product trade.

Earlier, the two sides heldtalks during which they informed each other about each country’sagricultural development situation. The two ministers agreed to speed upthe trading of agro-forestry products between the two countries, removetrade barriers and facilitate investment activities by Vietnamese andLao businesses.

According to Minister Phat, theVietnam-Laos agricultural cooperation has seen remarkable resultsrecently with the effective prevention of cross-border infectiousdiseases among animals and the signing of cooperation agreements onprotecting watershed and border forests as well as the planting ofrubber trees in Laos. The two countries aim to have more than 24,400 haplanted with rubber trees by the end of this year.

He also suggested the two sides further strengthen bilateral ties inthe fields of veterinary, animal quarantine and afforestation./.

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