The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation with the Forestry Department of Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is part of the activities in the business trip of the delegation of the Forestry Department of Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The head of the delegation is Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department.

Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department of Vietnam (left), and Aoyama Toyohisa, Director of the Japan Forestry Department (right) chaired the signing ceremony (Photo: The Forestry Department of Vietnam).

The memorandum identifies eight cooperative activities, namely sustainable forest management, climate change mitigation and adaptation, effective forest resources management, and utilization. The two sides will join hands in promoting the multi-use value of forests, strengthening forest conservation, restoring biodiversity and forest landscape, and preventing natural disasters. Other cooperative activities include research and Development of new technology in the field of forestry, human resource development, timber legality, and responsible trade of timber and timber products.

At the ceremony, Director Tran Quang Bao highly appreciated the cooperation and support of the Japanese side for Vietnam in the field of forestry in recent years, especially in developing and implementing strategies, policies, and important projects.

Also, Japan has supported Vietnam in strengthening sustainable forest management, improving livelihoods for communities relying on forests, biodiversity conservation, and climate change in forestry. In the field of trade in wood and wood products, Japan is one of the five largest importing countries of Vietnam, with about US $1.5 - 2 billion annually.

"Although important cooperation results have been achieved, the two sides need to continue to promote further cooperation to promote the potential and strengths of the two countries in the field of forestry, deepening cooperation between the two sides, contributing to the development of the two countries' forestry industries," said Bao.

The head of the Vietnamese delegation also appreciated the active coordination of the Japanese Forestry Department in the process of building and organizing the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation on forestry with Vietnam.

In response, Aoyama Toyohisa, Director of the Japanese Forestry Department, suggested that the two sides focus on coordinating and implementing 4 key areas in the newly signed MoU. The first focus is building and mutual recognition of the legality of wood to increase responsible wood trade.

Also, the two sides need to create favorable conditions for Japanese experts to come to Vietnam, to coordinate well to deploy the Joint Credit Mechanism (JCM) signed in 2013 and to better coordinate the development and implementation of cooperation projects related to the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO).

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