Bilateral talks between Vietnam and Poland to promote two-way agricultural trade cooperation
21 March 2022, VN: On March 17, an online conversation was held between Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and Mr. Henryk Kowalczyk – Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland took place at the MARD’s headquarter.
Opening the meeting, Minister Le Minh Hoan expressed his respect for the traditional friendship between Vietnam and Poland over the past 7 decades in terms of politics, security, defense, economy, etc. cultural. “I am pleased to see that the cooperation between the agriculture and rural development sectors of the two countries has always been focused in recent years, Vietnam and Poland have similarities in organizational structure because the two countries take the same name. “Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development”, the Minister shared.
Mr. Henryk Kowalczyk also shared that Poland always maintains a close cooperation relationship with Vietnam and affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of Poland.
On the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding on agricultural cooperation signed by the two ministries in 2017 as a legal basis for the two sides to implement specific contents such as technology transfer in the preservation and processing of agricultural products, contract cooperation in animal and plant quarantine, trade promotion of agro-forestry-fishery products and investment in agriculture, as well as training of human resources.
Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a very heavy impact on the economic development of countries around the world, but Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery products exported to Poland and other commodities have not been exported. Polish agricultural products and food exports to Vietnam are still growing steadily, reaching more than 173 million USD in 2021. However, this figure reflects that there is still room for the two countries to promote trade in agricultural products more.
Mr. Henryk Kowalczyk highly appreciated the fact that many agricultural products of Vietnam have been present on the Polish market and hoped that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam would play a key role in further accessing the Polish market, especially is trading more products of beef, pork, duck, goose meat, etc.
The Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development believes that the two countries have potential for further development in trade exchanges in the coming time.
In response to the Polish Minister, Minister Le Minh Hoan also shared that Vietnam holds the view of diversification, multilateralization and access to the markets of countries around the world, including Poland, and wishes to receive supported by Poland and will create conditions for Polish agricultural products to be present on the Vietnamese market so that Vietnamese consumers can better understand Poland, Polish agriculture as well as specialties of Poland.
In addition, Minister Le Minh Hoan hoped that the Polish Government would always support Vietnam’s agricultural industry in sustainable aquaculture development, creating favorable conditions for Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery products to be exported. export to the EU market, contributing to the EU to soon remove the IUU yellow card for Vietnam.
“The story of Vietnamese agricultural products, including seafood, is not only a commodity but also an image of a country that is responsible to the world community. That’s what the ministry wants the Polish side to help Vietnam convince EU member states to support in many fields of agricultural investment, not just the IUU yellow card,” said Mr. Minister.
Mr. Henryk Kowalczyk agreed with Minister Le Minh Hoan’s opinion and said that Poland as a member of the EU can also help facilitate access to Vietnamese products. Poland is ready to become a bridge for Vietnamese businesses to enter the European market./.
