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 22nd 2017, reporter of the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper interviewed Mr. Mathew Worrell from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources on the bilateral of Vietnam and Australia relations on agriculture sector.
Reporter: Can you tell me something about Australian support for Vietnamese agriculture?
Mr. Mathew Worell: Sure. So yesterday here, I'm not sure whether you were here, there was a signing ceremony with an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) 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 sort of 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 the sort of raw commodities and then you are able to then process them and manufacture them into our added-value product, and then either sell them domestically or re-export them – including to Australia, and Australian consumers then consume them.
Reporter: What have APEC officials discussed about applying advanced technology in agriculture?
Mr. Mathew Worell: Yes, so this morning and this 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, so obviously very beneficial for plant health and growth because of the reduced heat stress, from that. So that's just one project that was discussed here today where there are a number of countries working together in that area.
There's also a special workshop tomorrow afternoon that is all about advanced technologies and how they are being applied in agriculture, so we'll get to hear from a number of speakers about the work that's going on there.
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 but also some private sector people here as well – talking about some of the work that they're doing. So its about dialogue and sharing information and improving understanding, and about inter-connections, improving inter-connections.
Reporter: Do you think that Vietnamese agricultural products can demand quality standards to export to developed countries such as Australia and US?
Mr. Mathew Worrell: Oh yes, definitely, you sell quite a bit of agricultural and food products to Australia.
I think you sell USD600 - USD700 million worth of agricultural and food products that come to Australia, so obviously you have a high standard of agriculture and food production.
I think in some areas 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, I think its quite a complementary trade – particularly we sell you live cattle and beef, and you sell us some processed products as well, so its a complementary relationship.
Reporter: What are your ideas for opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese agriculture?
Mr. Mathew Worrell: 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.
That is the way we approach if in Australia, is for the government to provide an enabling policy framework that allows competitive farmers to prosper.
So investing in those areas where we require public – private sector involvement, partnerships, so in research and development, and innovation, reducing any of the regulatory barriers that impede efficient farming production, investment in infrastructure (road, rail), so I imagine these are all key issues as well for Vietnam in helping its farming sector compete and grow bigger./.