Vietnam’s border provinces look to boost agricultural cooperation with China's Yunnan

Hanoi (VNA) – Four northwestern border provinces of Vietnam, namely Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, and Dien Bien, have held the first conference on agricultural cooperation with China’s Yunnan province.

The event aimed to review bilateral ties and identify cooperation directions for the time ahead.

Among the four Vietnamese provinces, Lao Cai has an over-182km-long borderline and multifaceted relations with Yunnan. It has also signed and fruitfully implemented several agreements on agricultural partnership with the Chinese side.

Lao Cai's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development suggested some cooperation activities with its Yunnan counterpart such as transferring cultivation techniques; applying preservation and processing technologies; encouraging enterprises to partner in agricultural production, processing, and sale; frequently exchanging information about farm produce export and import standards; preventing smuggling; developing multi-purpose forestry plants; and holding training courses.

At the meeting, the Vietnamese and Chinese provinces reached high consensus on maintaining exchange and cooperation, particularly in agriculture, so as to enhance mutual understanding and deal with obstacles hindering their collaboration in a timely manner.

They agreed on the necessity to play a more active role in cooperation; promote ties in crop production, aquaculture, and livestock farming; and increase connectivity to tap into their potential and advantages, develop sustainably, and bring about benefit to farmers./.