The important role of agriculture in the Vietnam - US relations

In order to clarify the achievements and development potential of Vietnam - US agricultural cooperation, Vietnam Agriculture Newspaper has interviewed the Agricultural Counselor of the US Embassy, Mr. Robert Hanson regarding this issue.

As the person who plays the role of connecting the agriculture sector between Vietnam and the US, how do you evaluate the achievements in agricultural cooperation between the two countries in recent years?

This is an interesting question. In 2020, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the US and I think that agriculture and agricultural product commercial play a very important role in the bilateral relationship.

The proof is that over the past 25 years, the bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the US in the agricultural sector has increased from a few thousand USD to USD 8 billion today.

During the visit and working session of Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh to the US in early 2020, experts confirmed that Vietnamese and American agricultural products are complementary, not competitive. So in your opinion, what potentials will this advantage bring to Vietnam - US agricultural cooperation?

As we know, the US is the No. 1 market for many agricultural export products of Vietnam, including seafood, cashew nuts, coffee, pepper, rubber and many other types of fruit.

Meanwhile, the top agricultural products exported from the US to Vietnam are cotton, dairy inputs, furniture, corn, soybeans, flour... These are all important input products of the production and processing industries in Vietnam.

In addition to providing good quality input materials, the US technical support has helped Vietnam improve the production industry’s value. Vietnam has also improved market access conditions for US products such as seafood, meat and poultry products.

It can be affirmed that agricultural cooperation between the two countries is very constructive and mutually supportive.

This concludes that we have a wide variety of items to suit each other's needs. From the perspective of the Agricultural Counselor of the US Embassy in Vietnam, which agricultural products do you think will have strong development potential in the near future?

Demand for agricultural products imported from the US will increase, such as beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, seafood, etc. Moreover, there are also many American fruits that are favored by Vietnamese people: cherry, grape, apple, blueberry, orange...

Processed and healthy foods have also gradually conquered Vietnamese consumers. These include dried fruits, several nuts such as raisins, almonds, pecans. Although these products have a small market share, they still play an important role in bilateral agricultural trade.

We also see another potential merchandise for the US to export to Vietnam, which is raw materials for ethanol production. Materials such as corn can help Vietnam produce environmental-friendly energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, the US can also directly export ethanol to the Vietnamese market.

With the mentioned potentials, what do you expect about the agriculture cooperation between our two countries?

Currently, the US Government is very eager to promote cooperation regarding the agricultural industry’s innovation and creativity and we are a world leader in research and development in this field. The United States wants to efficiently utilize natural resources and improve agricultural productivity, while also responding responsibly to climate change.

In Vietnam, we have worked very closely with our partners at the MARD on technical assistance in areas such as biotechnology, e-commerce, agricultural statistics through exchange programs.

Through these programs, Vietnamese experts and researchers will come to the US, meet experts and farmers to learn and build contact networks and long-term relationships. We very much hope to continue to have more exchange programs like these in the future.

Also, with the hope that the food safety systems of the two countries will attain certain similarities, the US has supported Vietnam in reforming mechanisms and policies and amending several laws such as the Food Safety Regulations, the Law on Crop Production, and the Law on Animal Husbandry.

Those are the potentials, so what about the problems, sir? What needs to be resolved from Vietnam-US agricultural cooperation in the coming time?

Thank you for this question. Currently, the US is the only major agricultural partner of Vietnam that has not yet had a preferential trade agreement. I think in the medium term we will have such agreements.

However, in the near future, the US will actively work with each partner in the Government of Vietnam such as the MARD, the MoIT, the MoH... to solve specific issues respectively arising between the trade between two countries.

Can you give a more specific example?

The US is the world's leading corn exporter, and Vietnam is a big market, but this product’s tax rate for the US is still very high, at 5%.

This not only affects exporters in the US but also makes it difficult for producers to use corn in Vietnam when they have to buy at high prices.

Therefore, I think this is a specific issue that is emerging and the two countries can work together to solve this problem.

Thank you, sir!

"During nearly 4 years working as Agriculture Counselor in Vietnam, I feel happy because I have the opportunity to travel to many places, meet many people and I am very impressed with the beauty of this country, with the diversity in agricultural production as well as the hospitality of the Vietnamese people." - Mr. Robert Hanson