Symposium looks to bolster Vietnam’s agricultural cooperation with Japan's Kyushu

A symposium on agriculture and its future development in Vietnam and Japan’s Kyushu took place on November 11.

Staff at the General Consulate of Vietnam in Fukuoka attend the event (Photo: VNA)
Staff at the General Consulate of Vietnam in Fukuoka attend the event (Photo: VNA)

The event, the first scientific symposium on agriculture between Vietnam and a Japanese region, was jointly held by the General Consulate of Vietnam in Fukuoka, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam and the Kyushu University.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that Vietnam holds in high regards the contributions by universities and research institutes in Kyushu, particularly the Kyushu University, to Vietnam’s agricultural sector.

He emphasised a need to regularly hold similar symposiums to bolster the practical and effective cooperation between the two countries, especially in agriculture.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Vu Hong Nam said that Kyushu, as one of the leading agricultural regions in Japan, has great importance for the Vietnam-Japan friendship as it was the origin of the two countries’ trade over 400 years ago.

There are many Vietnamese trainees in the agricultural sector in Kyushu. They account for more than half of a total of 3,400 foreign ones in the agricultural sector of Kyushu’s Kumamoto prefecture, according to Governor of Kumamoto Kabashima Ikuo.

He voiced his belief that the trainees will contribute to agricultural development in particular and the Vietnamese economy at large in the time to come.

At the symposium, agricultural scientists and agri-firms of Vietnam and Japan discussed measures to improve added values for foodstuff, promote the application of information technology in the sector and boost aquatic resources development.

Concluding the event, Vietnamese Consul General in Fukuoka Vu Binh said he believes the symposium will open up new chances in bilateral cooperation not only in agriculture but also other fields, especially in the backdrop of COVID-19 and current challenges posed by climate change.