National Assembly President Trần Thanh Mẫn and National Assembly President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire Patrick Achi visit a field with a promising new rice variety for the summer-autumn crop in Cần Thơ City on Tuesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

CẦN THƠ — National Assembly (NA) President Trần Thanh Mẫn and President of the National Assembly of Côte d’Ivoire Patrick Achi visited rice and seafood export companies in the Mekong Delta city of Cần Thơ on Tuesday, aiming to boost trade relations between the two countries in the agriculture and fisheries sectors.

The activities are part of the Ivorian NA President's official visit to Việt Nam from August 23 to 26.

Both NA leaders visited Trung An High-Tech Farming JSC, an organic rice producer that has established its own export network in Côte d'Ivoire, and Can Tho Import Export Seafood JSC (Caseamex), a major seafood processor and exporter in the Mekong Delta region.

They also toured a field growing a promising new variety of rice for the 2026 summer-autumn crop.

Việt Nam currently produces about 45 million tonnes of rice annually, while Côte d'Ivoire produces around two million tonnes, despite the two countries having comparable land areas.

Agricultural products serve as a key driver of their trade relations, with Côte d'Ivoire being Việt Nam's third-largest rice export market and Việt Nam importing cashews, cotton and other raw materials from the West African country.

The visit to Trung An was part of an effort to share Việt Nam's rice cultivation and production experience with Côte d’Ivoire, helping the latter boost its rice production and optimise rice processing methods.

During the visit, the two officials and high-level delegations were briefed on the company's history and development and toured its rice production, packaging and export lines.

After nearly 18 years of exporting rice and rice-based products, Trung An has contributed a total of nearly US$1 billion to Việt Nam's export turnover. 

Of the 39 million hectares dedicated to rice cultivation in the Mekong Delta, the company currently manages and grows rice in nearly 10,000 hectares across the six provinces and cities of Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng, Hậu Giang, Kiên Giang and Đồng Tháp.

At Caseamex, Achi noted that Africa is a market with great potential, and Côte d'Ivoire could become a key destination for Vietnamese enterprises seeking to expand their markets, invest and build value chains on the continent.

He reiterated his commitment to maintaining close dialogue with Mẫn and fostering bilateral cooperation, particularly in agriculture.

As for the fisheries sector, he expressed his hope that Vietnamese enterprises would not only export fish and related products to Côte d'Ivoire, but also transfer equipment and technology to help the country ensure food security.

Caseamex is a long-established enterprise specialising in seafood processing and export in the Mekong Delta region, with frozen pangasius (tra fish) fillets a flagship product that has been exported to over 50 countries and territories. — VNS