The event was co-organised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the ASEAN-Japan Centre and the Vietnamese Embassy in Japan.

Several participants in the seminar raised questions about investment procedures in Vietnam and the country’s incentive policies for the agriculture sector.

Speaking at the event, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vu Van Tam, underlined that the Vietnamese Government always pays special attention to developing the agriculture sector in a comprehensive manner. In recent years, Vietnam has recorded significant achievements in agriculture and rural development, obtaining an annual growth rate of 4-5 percent for the past two decades. From originally being a rice importer, Vietnam has now become the world’s second largest exporter of rice, with the product being available in more than 150 countries, he said.

Mr Tam also highlighted the suitable conditions for investors in Vietnam, such as its stable socio-political environment, convenient transport network and large labour force. The Vietnamese Government always attaches a lot of importance to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) through a series of preferential investment policies.

Nobuo Kato, a senior official at the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, confirmed that Japan and Vietnam have enormous potential for agricultural cooperation both countries have not yet fully tapped into this field. Businesses from both countries need more information about Vietnam’s investment environment and its agricultural forestry and fisheries industries, he added.

Mr Kato also proposed a number of measures to increase cooperation between the two countries in this field. He suggested that Vietnam should focus on modernising its agriculture sector, enhancing the scale of its production and managing food hygiene and safety more effectively.

During the seminar, a number of businesses from Vietnam and Japan signed joint agreements.