Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Tran Tuan Anh and Bangladeshi Minister of Food Advocate Qamrul Islam signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the extension of rice trading in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The memorandum came as part of Bangladeshi minister’s May 22-25 visit at Anh’s invitation.

Under the MoU--which will be extended till 2022--Viet Nam will supply up to one million tonnes of rice to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh announced its expectation to buy around 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes of 5 per cent broken milled white rice from Viet Nam after the signing. The amount could be increased to 500,000 tonnes this year. In addition, Bangladesh invited Vietnamese official rice suppliers to their country for negotiations of prices, amount and transaction methods.

Viet Nam Southern Food Corporation will implement the export contracts.

The MoU on rice trading between the two countries was signed for the first time on April 18th 2011 and had been extended once in 2014 till the end of 2016.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Anh said Viet Nam always highly valued its traditional and friendly co-operation with Bangladesh.

The two countries have exchanged several high ranking delegations and businesses for trade promotion and business opportunities.

The two sides have signed many important agreements on economic, trade and investment co-operation. In this way, they’ve been a force for sustainable development in recent years, according to the minister.

Last year, the two-way trade between the two countries reached $608 million, posting a 3.1 per cent year-on-year increase.

However, the trade exchange has not reached its potential. The two countries could further enhance trade co-operation. In addition, Viet Nam and Bangladesh have potential in industrial co-operation, especially in agricultural machinery manufacturing in Bangladesh.

In the context of the difficult consumption market, the MoIT has promoted activities to search for export markets of local products, especially agricultural products. The ministry has sought the signing of a MoU to facilitate exported products.

In addition to traditional markets, the ministry has focused on new markets with big potential, large population, high rice consumption and stable purchasing power. The MoU was negotiated in around 2 weeks.

Bangladesh is a market with more than 170 million people and high rice consumption. The country’s rice supply is modest, and it often faces disaster. — VNS