Ukraine and Vietnam intensify cooperation in the agricultural sector

This was told by the Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on European Integration Olha Trofimtseva after the fourteenth meeting of the Ukrainian-Vietnamese Intergovernmental Commission.

"The Vietnamese market is extremely interesting for Ukrainian producers of agrarian and food products, taking into account such factors as: the population of the country is 100 million people, GDP per capita is more than $ 6000 and rapid economic growth, for example, in 2016, annual GDP growth was 7, 46%. At the same time, our economies complement each other in many areas, " says Deputy Minister for European Integration Olha Trofimtseva.

She said that according to the results of 8 months of 2017, Ukrainian agro exports to Vietnam amounted to $ 38.6 million and increased by almost $ 20 million compared to the same period in 2016. The key export items were cereals, meat and offal, oilseeds, grain products and others.

"We highly appreciate the holding of the next meeting of our bilateral intergovernmental commission after a long break and we hope that the joint decisions fixed in the protocol will become a real impetus for the development of bilateral trade and economic relations in the agrarian and food spheres," notes Olha Trofimtseva.

The Deputy Minister also noted the importance of resolving the issue of the resumption of wheat exports to the SRV market by the end of this year and congratulated the Vietnamese side's consent to send a delegation of experts on phytosanitary issues to Ukraine next month.

"Given the importance for the Vietnamese side of bilateral agreements on cooperation in the field of phytosanitary, veterinary and food safety, we with the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection took these documents for development so that they were signed between Ukraine and the SRV in the near future and became a stable basis for further cooperation in agrarian and food industries, " stresses Olha Trofimtseva and added that the Vietnamese side is also interested in restoring consultations and negotiations with Ukraine on the free-trade zone Agreement between our countries.

Reference: According to the results of 8 months of 2017, exports of Ukrainian agrarian and food products to the SRV amounted to $ 38.6 million, with key products: meat and offal - $ 10.6 million, cereals - $ 9.7 million, oilseed seeds - $ 6.5 million, oil - $ 1.6 million, residues and waste products of the food industry - $ 4.6 million. Imports - $ 30.9 million, with key products: coffee and tea - $ 14.4 million, various other food products - $ 3.9 million, cereals - $ 1.9 million, fruits and nuts - $ 1.4 million, fish - $ 7.03 million and others.