India seeks agricultural opportunities

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (right) meets Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.—VNA/VNS Photo Duc Tam

HA NOI (VNS)— Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday said the nation always welcomed and facilitated Indian enterprises to co-operate and invest in agriculture in Viet Nam.

He made the statement while receiving Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, who arrived for an official working visit to Viet Nam yesterday.

The Prime Minister said he highly valued the great results achieved in the meeting between Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and India Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar, and affirmed that the country would work with India to boost bilateral relations.

Dung said he wanted the two ministries to continue conducting effective implementation of their co-operative agreements, especially in development of biological technology, post-harvesting technology, hybridisation and aquaculture and fisheries processing.

Indian Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said India always supported the two countries' co-operation and appreciated Viet Nam's role in the region and the world.

He said that during his talks with Vietnamese Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat, the two sides agreed to improve their co-operation in the future, especially in planting of crops, livestock husbandry and aqua culture and fisheries processing.

He expressed his hope that the Vietnamese Government would support and create favourable conditions for co-operative activities between Viet Nam's Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry and India's Agriculture Ministry.

Earlier, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and his Indian counterpart Sharad Pawar agreed to join hands in developing and applying science and technology in cattle and poultry breeding, new rice variety research, animal and plant quarantine, and in training agricultural experts.

The two ministers reached consensus of creating the most favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Indian enterprises to invest and do business in each other's countries.

Phat said Viet Nam had learnt much from India's experiences in agricultural production as well as received its assistance in building a rice research institute in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.

India was ready to provide technical assistance and welcome Vietnamese staff to study in India, said agriculture minister Pawar. — VNS