HÀ NỘI — Israeli agriculture firms are getting more interested in entering the Vietnamese agriculture sector to assist local farmers and companies become high-tech.

Israel is a country that possesses a modern and creative agriculture sector that has made significant achievements, given the country’s harsh natural conditions such as lack of fresh water and high desertification, according to Vice Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Doãn Toản.

“Hà Nội expects Israeli businesses, which always pioneer to apply technologies in agricultural production, will help the city develop its own hi-tech agriculture sector,” he said at a conference on Wednesday.

“The city has in recent years enhanced the application of technologies in producing, storing and processing agricultural products, but the work has remained modest,” Toản said.

“There are still few number of hi-tech agriculture projects in the city while post-harvest products haven’t been stored and processed in the way that meets local authorities’ requirements.”

The capital city’s authorities has planned to develop its hi-tech agriculture industry with selection of appropriate technologies for production and processing so that the produces are safe and high-quality.

At the same time, the city will develop its supply chains, markets and commercial centres to become one of the leading distribution and export units in both domestic and international markets.

“We want to bring our vast know-how to Việt Nam and help local producers achieve more quality products and find farther destination for exports,” the Israel-based Decco’s international sales manager Ilan London told Việt Nam News.

“We are thinking of mutual partnerships. Our know-how and technologies are very unique and we have solutions and technologies for all kinds of fruit and vegetables,” Ilan said, adding that his firm is able to increase the added values in Việt Nam to make the market better.

“The moment you pick the fruits from the tree, the quality starts descending. Our company maintains the quality through shipment, transportation, storage and harvest technology.”

Golan Argaman, CEO of Sheffa from Israel, said he is happy to make new partnerships during the conference and he expects to find someone who understand the concept of his business and help local farmers cut costs and raise revenues.

“We look for co-operation between farmers, co-operatives and big farming companies that can help each other build factories and manufacturers here in Việt Nam,” he said.

The potential of Việt Nam is much larger than what has been achieved, according to Dov Avital, business innovation manager of dripping tech Metzer Group.

Việt Nam has many highland terrains that make it harder for farmers to water the fields and preserve water from flowing elsewhere, Dov said.

“We bring the dripping technology to Việt Nam to change the situation. We can keep the environment clean, re-use the water and keep it for a long-time production,” he said.

The conference was held by the Embassy of Israel as part of serial activities to celebrate the 25^th anniversary between Việt Nam and Israel. — VNS