At a meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Đức Phát and Iran’s Agriculture Minister Mahmoud Hojjati investigated venues for bilateral cooperation between the two sides and emphasized in the need to develop ties between the two sides in agriculture and fishery arenas.
Iran’s Hojjati, while noting that the two countries could complement each other in trade and agricultural transactions, asserted “Iran and Vietnam possess numerous potentials in agriculture sector and can supply the other side’s demands.”
He stressed that agro products could be re-exported to regional markets through Iran and Vietnam though certain agreements had to be inked beforehand.
Iran is the first producer of farmed salmon trout in the world, noted the official voicing the country’s readiness to ship the product to Vietnam; “other products like pistachios, dates, apples and pomegranates are also produced in Iran and can be deployed to Vietnam or its neighboring states.”
“Iran can fulfill demand for rice and some other products by importing from the Southeast Asian country,” highlighted the Iranian agriculture minister.
Cao Đức Phát of Vietnam, for his part, recalled the agreement between presidents of the two countries on increasing annual trade turnover to two million dollars, said, with expansion of agricultural relations, Iran will gain access no only to the 90-million population of Vietnam but also to the 650-million population of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
“Vietnam neighbors China with a population of 1.6 billion people and has inked free trade agreement with 15 countries,” stressed Phát inviting Iran to take advantage of the opportunity to develop its export markets.
He went on to express his country’s readiness to supply Iran’s demands for various products like forest products, fisheries, Indian almonds, black pepper and rice in addition banana, mango, sour lime, pineapple and beef; “given that Iran remains a major producer and exporter of fishery products, we are willing to transfer sturgeon, trout, salmon, and aquaculture of the Caspian Sea to the Vietnamese market.”
Minister of agriculture and rural development of Vietnam also invited his Iranian counterpart to make an official visit to the Southeast Asian country in the current year in line with development of agriculture ties and called for arrival of a top-ranking Vietnamese delegation in Iran.
The meeting also agreed on formation of a joint permanent working group to seek ways for development of agro cooperation, facilitate commute of traders as well as to prepare and ink relevant agreements.
HA/4031321