Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong on Wednesday met the Netherlands’ visiting deputy agriculture minister Marjolijn Sonnema to discuss co-operation opportunities between the two countries.

Cuong said it was a good decision for the two countries to have become strategic economic development partners in 2014. The focus of bilateral co-operation on selection of food and nutritional security is in line with the goals, potential and strength of both nations, he added.

Praising agricultural development in the Netherlands, the minister said that though the country is only as big as Mekong Delta, with a total area of 4 million sq km, it has become a major exporter of agricultural products. The Netherlands is known world over for its tulips, milk and potatoes.

At the meeting, Thai Huong, chairwoman of TH Milk Food Joint Stock Company, said her group has invested in a 3,000-hectare hi-tech agricultural project in the northern Thai Binh Province.

She expressed hope that Sonnema would introduce potential partners to TH group so that they could co-operate in vegetable seed production for export as well as to meet local demand, especially potatoes. “Viet Nam imports a large quantity of potato seeds every year. TH hopes to co-operate with the Netherlands to produce the seed, thus helping us reduce imports,” Huong, said.

The group has imported aqua technologies for wastewater treatment from the Netherlands for dairy farming – it has around 45,000 cows in the central Nghe An Province.

For her part, Sonnema promised to help connect firms from both countries so as to boost ties.

The European nation has supported Viet Nam in technology transfer, especially in vegetable and fruit growing, breeding and aquaculture, as well as human resources training in the agriculture sector. It has also played an important role in helping the country respond effectively to climate change in the Mekong Delta region.

Nguyen Hong Dien, chairman of Thai Binh Province’s People’s Committee, said that while they have been successful in entering into agriculture in new rural areas, product quality has been poor because of lack of application of science and technology. The province hopes to find partners from the Netherlands to develop technology in the sector, he said. — VNS