“Since Vietnam sells USD600 - USD700 million worth of agricultural and food products to Australia, it means you have a high standard of agriculture and food production,” said Mr. Matthew Worrell, Assistant Secretary, Bilateral Engagement and International Cooperation Branch, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Matthew Worrell (R) and delegates in APEC Food Security Week in Can Tho (source: Bien Phong)

On the occassion of High-level Policy Dialogue on Enhancing Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture in Response to Climate Change in Can Tho city, on August 22 2017, reporter of the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper interviewed Mr. Matthew Worrell from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources on the bilateral ties of Vietnam and Australia in agriculture sector.

Can you tell us something about Australian support for Vietnamese agriculture?

Sure. Yesterday there was a signing ceremony with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Vietnamese government, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

So that is a ten year agreement that outlines the sorts of cooperative projects that ACR and MARD will work together on, and I think it specifies the regions in Vietnam where you would like particular assistance with your agricultural sector development.

We're also seeing Australian companies co-investing with Vietnamese government and private sector businesses in your agriculture and food value chains, in terms of some of the agriculture sectors here.

So that's a win-win for you, and a win-win for us, and obviously I think the agriculture relationship between Australia and Vietnam is, we tend to export raw commodities to process and manufacture them into our added-value product for sale in domestic market or re-export them to country including Australia.

What have APEC officials discussed on applying advanced technology in agriculture?

This morning and afternoon, there was a number of presentations from the chairs of the various working groups that sit underneath this particular APEC committee, and they were talking all about those technologies that countries are working together on, and some of those projects.

I think particularly we've heard about a number of projects in the aquaculture sector. There was one example given of some material that's used in greenhouse production, which helps reduce the ambient temperature inside the greenhouses, which is very beneficial for plant health and growth because it reduced heat stress. So that's just one project that was discussed here today where there are a number of countries working together in that area.

Because obviously one of the main ideas with the APEC meetings is for economies to share information and knowledge, and this particular partnership has the private sector – so industry people, not just government people are here as well – talking about some of the work that they're doing. It is about dialogue and sharing information and improving understanding and inter-connections.

Vietnamese dragon fruits reccently become one of Vietnam's exported fruit to Australia (source: Vietnam Finance)

Do you think that Vietnamese agricultural products can demand quality standards to export to developed countries such as Australia and US?

Yes, definitely.

In my opinion, as you sell USD600 - USD700 million worth of agricultural and food products to Australia, obviously you have a high standard of agriculture and food production.

Australia, based on requests from your government, would be assisting in terms of helping you in specific areas, and obviously we work together in some of the international forums discussing the development and implementation of animal and plant health and food standards that allow for food and agricultural products to be traded.

So Australian consumers like Vietnamese agricultural and food products, and hopefully that trade will continue to grow. As I said before, it can possibly be a complementary trade – particularly we sell you live cattle and beef, and you sell us some processed products as well, so it is a complementary relationship.

What are your ideas in terms of opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese agriculture?

Well its probably the same as for Australian agriculture, I mean agriculture is quite a competitive business around the world, so there are always a lot of challenges for farmers, to do with climate change and prices always changing.

To be a farmer you have to be quite resilient and flexible, so farming is a challenging business but also a rewarding business. I think with the expected increase in demand for food, with the growing population and the changing demographics, there are substantial opportunities for efficient, competitive farmers to be profitable.