A new milestone in Vietnam-Spain agricultural cooperation

At the working session with Minister Luis Planas Puchades, Minister Le Minh Hoan expressed his gratitude to the Spanish Government in general and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in particular in recent years for cooperation and support with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in areas including rural development, policies to support the development of small and medium enterprises, seafood processing, development policies, and raising awareness in the field of forest protection.

In particular, in 2021, Spain's Hipra Company donated 5 million doses of the avian influenza vaccine on the occasion of Minister Le Minh Hoan's visit to the EU. The Minister also emphasized that both Spain and Vietnam have developed agricultural and fishery production, but the agricultural products of the two countries can complement each other.

Spain produces products in temperate and subtropical climate zones, while Vietnam produces products from tropical regions, which is one of the advantages for the two sides to promote trade partnerships.

Minister Le Minh Hoan also highly appreciated the fact that Spain is one of the European countries actively cooperating and supporting Vietnam in improving the fisheries management system and combating IUU fishing activities according to the EU’s Regulation 1005/2008.

Since 2017, Vietnam has been making efforts to remove the EU's yellow card on combating IUU fishing and has identified this as a key task of the industry, not just an urgent requirement of Vietnam. This task not only helps develop sustainable aquaculture and exploitation industries but also demonstrates Vietnam's responsibility and maintains Vietnam's reputation in the international arena.

Minister Le Minh Hoan also informed Minister Luis Planas Puchades about the results of the meeting with the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries, according to which the two sides will cooperate closely to make Vietnam a model in developing sustainable fisheries and a blue ocean economy.

Minister Luis Planas Puchades highly appreciated the achievements of Vietnamese agriculture in recent times and expressed his wish to promote extensive cooperation with Vietnam in the field of agriculture, in which both countries have complementary strengths.

Minister Luis Planas Puchades shared the achievements of Spanish agriculture in recent times, from being a net food importer at the end of the century to being the 7th largest agricultural exporter in the world and 4th in the EU nowadays, with an agricultural product trade surplus of over USD 15 billion/year.

In particular, Spain is the EU's leading country in seafood development with an extremely modern fishing vessel monitoring system, ensuring sustainable fisheries development. Minister Luis Planas Puchades proposed that the two sides draft and sign a cooperation agreement in the field of agriculture, in which focusing on areas of mutual interest such as veterinary medicine, sustainable fisheries development, seafood processing and preservation technology, the development of the salt industry, and the development of the blue ocean economy.

The two ministers agreed to continue promoting the market opening for products in which both sides have strengths and accelerate cooperation between specialized agencies of the two countries to support agro-forestry-fishery trade. The two ministers also agreed to encourage businesses from each country to learn about and attend trade fairs for agro-forestry-fishery products at the Fisheries Fairs in Spain and Vietnam held annually to promote and expand exports of Vietnam's strong products to Spain and vice versa.

On this occasion, Minister Le Minh Hoan invited Minister Luis Planas Puchades to attend the International Rice Festival held in Hau Giang, Vietnam, in mid-December 2023 and work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to sign a cooperation agreement between the two sides. Minister Luis Planas Puchades acknowledged the Vietnamese side's proposal and assigned specialized agencies to quickly implement effective and practical cooperation activities.

During his working visit to Spain, Minister Le Minh Hoan also had the occasion to work with the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation, the Spanish Coffee Association, the Madrid Wholesale Market, and visit Spain’s modern models in fisheries management and food processing.