Vietnam and New Zealand affirmed their commitment to deepening the two countries’ agriculture and trade relationship at second Vietnam - New Zealand Agricultural Dialogue held virtually on April 6. The sides underlined that in order to realize the goal of lifting two-way trade turnover to 2 billion USD by 2024, increasing bilateral agricultural cooperation and connections between the two countries is key.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said: “Both nations are strong agriculture producers and exporters, with complementary products. The Vietnam - New Zealand Agricultural Dialogue will boost our connections, cooperation and two-way trade, in line with what our two Prime Ministers highlighted in the Strategic Partnership Joint Statement.”
Vietnam remains a promising market for New Zealand and vice versa due to robust demand for key agricultural products. Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product export and import turnover to New Zealand hit 549.2 million USD in 2021, posting year-on-year growth of 11 percent. The country has exported mango, dragon fruit, and rambutan, and is working to ship lime, pomelo, and passion fruit to New Zealand.
Of note, Doanh proposed that the New Zealand side help Vietnam to build a supply chain for dragon fruit, as the Southeast Asian nation is the world's largest producer and exporter of the fruit.
Read the complete article at www.en.vietnamplus.vn/.