Signing 5 memorandums of understanding to promote the export of Vietnamese agricultural products to the Japanese market

Japan is a country famous for its modern agriculture, applying high technology, however, domestic production only meets over 45% of demand, so every year Japan still has to import agricultural products. This is an advantage for Vietnam to expand the export of agricultural products to this market.

On the morning of 22/11, the Department of International Cooperation and the National Agricultural Extension Center (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) coordinated with the Investment Promotion Project Agriculture Japan (ABJD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) organized the Workshop "Connecting supply chains to meet market demand" and the Signing Ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding on promoting agricultural product consumption between the National Agricultural Extension Center and AEON Topvalu Vietnam Co., Ltd. 

Attending the signing ceremony were Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan; Mr. Ito Naoki - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam and representatives of the Department of International Cooperation, National Agricultural Extension Center; AEON Topvalu Vietnam Co., Ltd; senior representative of JICA... 

Right before the workshop and signing ceremony, delegates visited Aeon Mall Long Bien supermarket.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan - Director of the Department of International Cooperation said that Vietnam and Japan have many potentials and advantages to promote cooperation in agricultural development. In particular, Japan is a country famous for its modern agriculture, applying high technology. However, Japanese agriculture only meets over 45% of domestic consumption demand, and still has to import agricultural products every year. This is considered an advantage for Vietnam to expand the export of agricultural products to this market.

According to Mr. Tuan, since 2014, Vietnam-Japan agricultural cooperation has had strategic and long-term visionary changes, demonstrated through high-level dialogues. However, Vietnam's agricultural export products to Japan have only stopped at 6 main groups, while some strong agricultural products such as rice, tea, and livestock products have not penetrated deeply into this market.

“In general, the export value of agricultural products accounts for less than 2% of the total export value of goods from Vietnam to Japan. Therefore, organizing the workshop and signing ceremony today will be an extremely meaningful activity, creating a bridge to help Vietnamese farmers, cooperatives, businesses and management agencies connect with Japanese partners in participating in the agricultural supply chain for the Aeon Mall supermarket system in particular and the Japanese market in general,” Mr. Tuan assessed.

Mr. Ito Naoki - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Vietnam said: "Agriculture is a field with a lot of potential for Japan and Vietnam to cooperate together. With modern Japanese technology, we hope to help Vietnamese agriculture improve its competitiveness, become an agricultural powerhouse, especially building a new vision towards the future".

In particular, Mr. Ito Naoki emphasized that he will strengthen technical cooperation and sales promotion issues, in which he highly appreciated the National Agricultural Extension Center and Aeon Topvalu Co., Ltd. signing a consumption agreement to launch products suitable to market needs and new era trends.

“The Japanese market is 10 times larger than Vietnam’s, while the number of people working in agriculture in Japan is decreasing, so the opportunity for Vietnam to promote the export of agricultural products to Japan is huge. With support from Aeon Topvalu, the community agricultural extension system, the Vietnam Farmers’ Association, etc., Vietnamese agricultural products will increasingly meet the requirements of Japan,” Mr. Ito Naoki affirmed. 

On the side of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, opening his speech, Minister Le Minh Hoan said: “Trust me! That is what I often say to farmers, that they should trust in their products.”

Minister Le Minh Hoan said: “During a business trip to Japan, I took the opportunity to buy a house cleaning robot. After paying, I was about to take the robot and leave, but the seller insisted on keeping me. They said they would definitely instruct me in detail on how to use it. Although it was a small act, it showed the Japanese way of selling with dedication. I also hope that Vietnamese farmers will not only sell products but also sell that dedication.” 

“From today's cooperation, I think we can do much more, not only from selling vegetables from Vietnamese farmers but also with the guidance of Japanese experts, people can package themselves to ensure food safety to put products on Aeon Mall shelves, serving the most high-end customers” – said the Minister. 

Mr. Le Minh Hoan also expressed his gratitude to JICA for many years of continuous cooperation, connection and assistance to Vietnamese farmers to produce according to standards and confidently bring their agricultural products to the Japanese market in particular and to the market in general. world through the distribution channel of Aeon Topvalu. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development also said that he really hopes that Aeon can bring Vietnamese OCOP products into its large distribution channel.  

According to Mr. Le Quoc Thanh - Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center, this is an opportunity for managers, businesses, scientists, and cooperatives to discuss solutions for supplying Vietnamese agricultural products to the AEON Mall supermarket chain. In particular, the signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding between the units will create opportunities for cooperatives and agricultural businesses to learn about market demand, strengthen cooperation between stakeholders in the supply chain, especially the needs of the Japanese market, contributing to promoting agricultural trade between the two countries.

“With these successful agreements, we will contribute to building a sustainable agricultural ecosystem – where producers, businesses and consumers can work closely to create quality products to meet the increasing demands of domestic and foreign markets. In particular, we demonstrate a strong commitment to working with farmers, contributing to building a comprehensive, sustainable and internationally integrated Vietnamese agriculture,” said Mr. Thanh.

Accordingly, within the framework of the event, 5 memorandums of understanding were signed, including the Memorandum of Understanding on capacity building and market connection for farmers between the National Agricultural Extension Center and AEON TOPVALU Vietnam Company; Memorandum of Understanding between Maruwa Biochemical Company Limited (MBC) and Moc Chau Red Flag Tea Joint Stock Company; Memorandum of Understanding on trade promotion between Next Farm Company Limited and Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company; Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Agricultural Bank Insurance Joint Stock Company and Sorimachi Vietnam Company Limited; Memorandum of Understanding between the Japan Agricultural Investment Promotion Project (ABJD) and the Vietnam High-Tech Agriculture Forum (VJAT).

Source: Vietnam.vn