President of the National Assembly of Côte d’Ivoire and Cần Thơ City leaders pose for a commemorative photo. —VNA/VNS Photo

CẦN THƠ — The Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ hopes to strengthen business-to-business connectivity and boost exports of its key products, including high-quality rice, tra fish, shrimp, fruits and processed agricultural products, to Côte d’Ivoire and other West African markets.

The statement was made by Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Đỗ  Thanh Bình during a working session with a Côte d’Ivoire delegation led by President of the National Assembly Patrick Achi in the city on August 25.

“Cần Thơ stands ready to facilitate local businesses’ efforts to explore, import and distribute products and raw materials of Côte d’Ivoire’s strengths, thereby establishing two-way trade based on complementarity and mutual benefit,” he noted.

Home to Cần Thơ University, the Cửu Long Delta Rice Research Institute and a network of research and training institutions and agricultural businesses, the city is willing to organise expert exchanges and share experience in rice production, mechanisation, cooperative development, aquaculture, digital transformation and green agriculture, he said.

Cần Thơ also seeks to connect businesses from both sides in deep processing, cold storage, logistics and agricultural trade, while providing opportunities for Ivorian companies to explore the investment and business environment in the city and vice versa, he added.

As Cần Thơ and Côte d’Ivoire share many similarities and have significant potential to complement each other in agriculture and agricultural trade, Binh stated his city hopes the visit will help establish more concrete links among the authorities, businesses, scientists, cooperatives and producers of the two sides.

“Cần Thơ is committed to creating a favourable, safe and transparent environment for Ivorian businesses, investors and partners to explore opportunities for cooperation and investment,” Bình affirmed.

For his part, Patrick Achi said Việt Nam and Côte d’Ivoire share many similarities, including abundant natural resources.

Cần Thơ is one of the leading partners with which Côte d’Ivoire hopes to launch its first agricultural cooperation projects, he said, noting the city has effectively leveraged its natural resources, environment and human resources to create new value, supported by a workforce trained at institutions such as Cần Thơ University and research institutes.

He also expressed full support for the proposals put forward by the Secretary of the municipal Party Committee on key areas of cooperation, including rice, aquaculture, processing technology to generate greater added value, and forestry.

On the occasion, the Côte d’Ivoire delegation also visited and held working sessions with Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, the Cửu Long Delta Rice Research Institute and Can Tho Import Export Seafood JSC (Caseamex). —  VNS