Viet Nam committed to increasing soybean supply from Ohio

On March 27, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Hoang Trung met with Director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture Brian Baldridge and President of the Ohio Soybean Council Jerry Bambauer.

Enhancing complementary agricultural exports

At the meeting, both sides emphasized that one of the key points in agricultural trade cooperation between Viet Nam and the U.S. is the complementary nature of their agricultural products, rather than direct competition between key agricultural and forestry commodities.

Viet Nam has strengths in tropical agricultural products such as coffee, cashew nuts, pepper, fruits, and wooden furniture, while the U.S. and the state of Ohio have strengths in temperate agricultural products including soybeans, beef, corn, and timber.

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung recalled the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment’s working visit in June 2025, during which the two sides signed several memoranda of understanding and contracts to purchase agricultural products and import raw materials from the U.S. for domestic production and processing.

"Last year, the Ministry’s delegation signed MoUs and assigned the International Cooperation Department for implementation. After six months, the import value of agricultural products reached 1.2 billion USD, out of the nearly 3 billion USD target," the Deputy Minister said.

For soybeans in particular, in 2025, Viet Nam imported about 517 million USD worth of soybeans from the U.S., up 11.7% compared to 2024 and accounting for 43% of Viet Nam’s total soybean imports from the global market.

The leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment expressed their expectation that the Ohio Soybean Council, as well as U.S. Soybean Export Council, will continue to connect and support businesses in increasing imports, so that soybean import volumes from the U.S. can reach even more impressive figures.

"Viet Nam is a very important market for soybeans from the state of Ohio. We are committed to ensuring a stable, high-quality soybean supply for the Vietnamese market in the coming time," said Brian Baldridge.

Agriculture is one of the leading economic pillars of the state of Ohio, with more than 74,000 farms currently in operation. The state also considers Viet Nam a market with strong and growing demand for high-quality agricultural products.

During their working visit this week, the Ohio's trade mission visited and worked with several localities, toured animal feed production plants, worked with the Viet Nam Fisheries Society, and met with many agricultural experts. He highly appreciated the diligence and creativity of the experts in finding solutions to develop production amid climate challenges.

According to Brian Baldridge, through soybean associations and trade promotion programs, the state of Ohio, in the process of connecting many U.S. agricultural exporters with Vietnamese businesses, has recognized very promising cooperation potential between the two sides.

Technology transfer to increase productivity

In addition to trade, the two sides also discussed the possibility of strengthening cooperation in technology transfer and the application of science and technology. According to Brian, Ohio is one of the important industrial centers of the U.S., with strengths in manufacturing machinery and equipment serving production and processing industries.

Deputy Minister Hoang Trung emphasized that implementing cooperation agreements is a very important factor and must be carried out in a substantive manner with concrete results. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has instructed its technical units to review and simplify procedures, creating more favorable conditions for imported products, thereby contributing to a more balanced trade balance between Viet Nam and the U.S..

The two countries have had more than 30 years of cooperation in agricultural trade. Viet Nam is currently one of the important export markets for soybeans from the state of Ohio, ranking fifth among soybean import markets in 2025.

Viet Nam also proposed establishing linkages between agricultural universities in Vietnam and training and research institutions in Ohio (Ohio State University) to implement training programs, as well as exchanges of students, graduate researchers, faculty members, and joint research projects.