Vietnam pushes South-South cooperation on agriculture

MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan signed a Letter of Intent between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gabon on promoting cooperation in the coffee sector.

Within the framework of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit and working session with the Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) in France on the morning of November 5, MARD Minister Le Minh Hoan signed a Letter of Intent between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Gabon on promoting cooperation in the coffee sector.

The two sides agreed to cooperate and promote exchange on the coffee value chain, to build programs to support the development of the coffee sector in Gabon; create favorable conditions for the exchange of plant varieties between the two sides in accordance with the laws of the two countries in order to increase the production capacity of coffee gardens in Gabon in the short term and serve the breeding program of Vietnam; encourage scientific and technical cooperation in order to facilitate the exchange of genetic material, experts and scientists between the two sides in accordance with the laws of the two countries in order to seek common solutions for general concerned topics. 

Later, Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the International Cooperation Department represented MARD to sign a Letter of Intent on South-South and tripartite agricultural cooperation with the OIF to make Vietnam the third country which supplies technology to impoverished nations, notably Africa.

Through this Letter of Intent, the parties proclaim their willingness to maintain and enhance the collaboration to promote South-South and tripartite cooperative projects for the benefit of French-speaking nations and regions in the area of agriculture, in accordance with the sustainable development objectives.

The parties agreed to jointly establish a framework agreement to continue and strengthen South-South and tripartite cooperation, as well as ways to effectively and smoothly implement the Francophonie Economic Strategy 2020-2025, ensuring compliance with Vietnam's priority directions in the field of agriculture and strategic orientations of Vietnam's MARD. 

Cooperation in the sphere of agriculture is a bright light in Vietnam's South-South cooperation with developing nations. The signature of the aforesaid Letters of Intent once again underscores the accountability of Vietnam to the Francophony in particular and the world community in general.