Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnamese and Cambodianministers of agriculture had a meeting in Hanoi on October 12 to discuss waysto promote cooperation in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries between the twocountries.

The meeting between Vietnamese Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong and Cambodian Minister ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon took place within the frameworkof the 40th meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF)and the 18th AMAF Plus Three (AMAF+3) meet-up in Hanoi.

They reviewed cooperation outcomes and expressedtheir wish to step up bilateral ties.

Minister Cuong said that agriculture plays animportant role in holding up the economy of each country. The two agricultureindustries also compliment each other well and as such, Vietnam will providethe best possible support for each side to develop.

Minister Veng Sakhon appreciated Vietnam’stechnical assistance for Cambodia’s agriculture, noting that cassava prices inhis country are falling sharply due to the spread of disease. Cambodia hopesthat Vietnam will further assist its market to deal with diseases of thecassava plant and increase the buying prices of cassava in border areas.

Sharing Vietnam’s experience in dealing withcassava diseases, the host official said his ministry is ready to givetechnical support, including new cassava varieties, to Cambodia.

He said some agricultural products of Cambodialike cashew and rubber hold great development potential. He pledged to promotethe Vietnam Rubber Group’s investment in processing facilities as scheduled andto purchase Cambodian rubber latex at reasonable prices.

At the meeting, the two officials also talkedabout cooperation to remove the European Commission’s yellow-card warningagainst illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in the two countries’fisheries sectors.

With regard to forestry, Cuong said Vietnam paysspecial attention to the sustainable development of the forest-based economy.Forest coverage in Vietnam reached 41.45 percent in 2017 and the country isstriving to expand its forested surface area with certificates of sustainableforest management practices to about 1 million ha by 2030.

In recent years, the two sides have exchangedinformation about forestry and cooperated well in forest protection anddevelopment, sustainable forest management, forest certification, forestryproduct management, and forestry science, he added.–VNA