Can Tho (VNA) – The People’sCommittee of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho held a working session withArgentine Ambassador to Vietnam Juan Carlos Valle Raleigh on December 6 todiscuss cooperation prospects between the city and Argentine partners.

The Ambassador reiterated the Argentine government’sopen door policy and called on foreign businesses to invest in the country.

He said Vietnam is not only a priority market inArgentina’s export diversification and expansion strategy but also an importanttrading partner in Asia and the third-biggest importer of Argentine products inthe region.

The diplomat noted that Argentina has strengthsin agriculture while Can Tho is a driving economic force of the entire MekongDelta with many agricultural and aquatic products with high export value, afact attracting a large number of businesses.

Therefore, Argentine investors hope to buildlong-term strategic ties with the city, he said.

However, per the initial survey of Argentina’sagricultural experts, the use of science-technology in Can Tho remains ineffectivedue to lack of investment in logistics service facilities for harvesting andpreservation. 

He suggested the city work with the NationalAgricultural Technology Institute (INTA) of Argentina – a prestigious researchinstitute in South America which has made significant contributions toagriculture in Argentina.

The ambassador said the cooperation could helpthe city find measures to remove bottlenecks to developing agriculture in theMekong Delta, focusing on food security, climate change, improving soilquality, enhancing market connectivity, increasing value for forestry products andaquaculture.

The INTA could help Can Tho enhance the use ofscience-technology in developing high-tech agriculture as well as attractingthe private economic sector to help poor people in both rural and urban areasenjoy benefits from effective agricultural economic models and advancedcultivation methods.

Through cooperation plans, Can Tho can work withthe INTA to seek new ways to solve crucial issues in agriculture developmentsuch as increasing the productivity and quality of farm produce, protectingland and water resources and ensuring food safety and hygiene.

Raleigh proposed Can Tho coordinate with the ArgentineEmbassy in Vietnam to implement programmes to connect agricultural businesses withpartners from Argentina and other countries in South America.

This will create an excellent opportunity forCan Tho firms to access cutting edge technologies to increase competitivenessfor their products while opening up new international cooperationopportunities.

The Ambassador asked Can Tho to build “clean”investment attraction policies, which encourage businesses and investors tooperate towards sustainable development, promote social responsibility andcreate environmentally-friendly products.

He also suggested the city improve infrastructure and humanresources and capacity to connect with businesses in addition to launching toursto introduce the city to international firms.

He took this occasion to invite Can Tho tointroduce the delta’s farm produce at AgroActiva, the biggest agriculture fairof Argentina, which is held annually in June in Santa Fe province - about 400kmfrom the capital Buenos Aires.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee VoThang Thong agreed on the proposals of the ambassador and said the city will doits utmost to improve the business environment, reform human resourcesattraction mechanisms and create the best conditions for Argentine partners toinvest in the city.

He hoped the Argentine Embassy would help Can Tho access Argentineinvestors and projects.

Can Tho is expected to become a gateway forArgentina to export goods to the Mekong Delta while Argentina can help connectthe Mekong Delta with the Latin American market, he said.-VNA