Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (r) receives Minister of Agriculture, Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Rural Communities Damien O’Connor in Hà Nội yesterday. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc suggested New Zealand support Việt Nam to build a value chain for dragon fruit as he received Minister of Agriculture, Biosecurity, Food Safety, and Rural Communities Damien O’Connor in Hà Nội yesterday.

The PM welcomed Minister O’Connor, who is also Minister of Trade and Export Growth, on his visit to Việt Nam and recalled his successful visit to New Zealand in March 2018.

He took the occasion to thank New Zealand for providing official development assistance (ODA) for Việt Nam over the past time.

Bilateral cooperation potential remains huge, including the production of Vietnamese avocado for exports, he said.

New Zealand is hoped to help Việt Nam organise production and create a value chain for Vietnamese dragon fruit to boost exports of this fruit to the world, the PM said.

The guest expressed his impression on the dynamic development of Việt Nam and said he would have some working sessions with Vietnamese ministries, departments and localities to seek stronger collaboration in agriculture and other fields.

He agreed with the PM’s proposal of building a value chain for Vietnamese dragon fruit and boasted that New Zealand has been successful in developing a value chain for its kiwi from the selection of good varieties for preservation and overseas shipment.

New Zealand is willing to support Việt Nam in this field as well as in the management of food safety and other realms, he affirmed.

PM Phúc stressed that Việt Nam always attaches great importance to the ASEAN-New Zealand strategic partnership and revealed that Việt Nam will be Chair of ASEAN in 2020 – the year marking the 45th founding anniversary of the bilateral partnership and fifth anniversary of the strategic partnership.

He asked New Zealand to closely work with Việt Nam to host conferences between ASEAN and its partners.

The PM added that Việt Nam is determined to ratify the Comprehensive Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2018 and hopes New Zealand will soon ratify this pact.

He urged the two countries to promote cooperation in trade and investment, especially increasing the bilateral trade which remains modest at present. —VNS