 Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan meets with Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack (Photo: VOV) |
At a meeting in New York on Thursday with Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack at the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women of the UN Economic and Social Council, Vice President Xuan said agriculture is a pillar of Vietnam’s economy and a measure of its level of sustainable development.
The US has a developed agriculture whose products are complementary to those of Vietnam, so the two countries have a great potential to strengthen their agricultural links, she said.
Ms. Xuan asked the US to support Vietnam in its agricultural transformation, remove trade remedy measures and technical barriers against Vietnamese agricultural products, and provide technical support to help Vietnamese products meet US market access standards.
She also urged the US to support the building of models for sustainable agricultural development and climate change response in the Mekong Delta region.
Secretary Vilsack said he will work closely with Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to open both markets to more agricultural products from the other side.