Egypt and Vietnam are moving to expand cooperation in agriculture, with plans to sign a memorandum of understanding covering food security, climate change and trade in farm goods, the Egyptian ministry of agriculture said on Tuesday. Egypt's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Mostafa El-Sayyad met with Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Vo Van Hung in Cairo to discuss collaboration on agricultural research, investment in value-added production, and adapting to climate change. Talks also focused on leveraging Vietnam's expertise in rice cultivation and aquaculture. Vietnam, one of the world's top five fish producers, is working to open its market to Egyptian potatoes and dates, with only a few administrative steps pending, Vo said. El-Sayyad said Egypt's agriculture ministry welcomes cooperation with Vietnam across a range of agricultural activities and stressed the importance of exchanging expertise and experiences. He added that Egypt's political leadership is keen to advance agricultural collaboration with Vietnam to higher levels in order to capitalise on shared opportunities between the two nations. The Vietnamese deputy minister voiced interest in expanding agricultural trade and scientific cooperation with Egypt. He said Vietnam is close to completing technical procedures to open its market to Egyptian potatoes and dates, with only a few administrative steps remaining. Both sides agreed to form a joint technical committee to review a draft memorandum of understanding proposed by Vietnam. The agreement would cover cooperation on food security, climate change, and increasing agricultural trade, with plans to sign it in the near future. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: Y.Yasser
