HA NOI – There remains room for Việt Nam and Brazil to foster bilateral co-operation, especially in agriculture, a business conference heard yesterday in Ha Noi.

Over past years, the Vietnamese Government has focused on developing the country’s agriculture, said General Secretary of the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Phạm Thị Thu Hằng.

The State also encouraged domestic firms to co-operate in agriculture trade with nations with developed farming sectors such as Brazil, she said, adding that it was time for Vietnamese and Brazilian agri-businesses to boost co-operation and foster technology transfer.

The large geographic distance between the two countries could no longer affect the relationship, Hằng said.

“The fact is that enterprises can utilise business opportunities available in each country,” she noted.

In his speech, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply Blairo Maggi described the forum as an opportunity for Vietnamese agri-businesses to learn more about Brazil and the potential it offers in trade and investment in agriculture.

Enterprises at the event agreed that the volume of agriculture trade had failed to match potential despite good relations between the two nations.

Brazilian agri-businesses expressed their hope to co-operate with Vietnamese counterparts in agricultural processing and trading and transfer their know-how to local firms.

Two-way trade has developed significantly from only US$16 million in 1989 to $3.8 billion in 2015 with Vietnamese key export items to Brazil including telephones and telephone components, computers, seafood, textiles and garments.

Agricultural products such as coin, wheat along with raw materials used in textile and garment as well as timber production were Việt Nam’s among major imports from Brazil. -VNS