Hanoi (VNA) - Argentine Minister ofForeign Affairs and Worship Jorge Faurie granted an interview to the VietnamNews Agency on the occasion of his official visit to Vietnam from July 28-31 atthe invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.

Asked about the purpose and significance of hisvisit, Faurie said it reflects the good bilateral relationship as the twocountries are celebrating the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties thisyear. Two-way trade has reached 3 billion USD, mostly in farm produce. However,he said, both sides would make greater efforts to raise the figure anddiversify exports, he said.

The Argentine delegation held a working sessionwith representatives of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, during which they proposed boosting exports of Argentine fruits toVietnam as well as Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to Argentina and discussedthe possibility of exporting rice to the Latin American country.

The minister suggested reinforcing cooperativeties in other important fields like industrialised agriculture, which involvesbiotechnology, seedlings, and artificial insemination of cattle.

This September, a Vietnamese businessdelegation will visit Buenos Aires and the Vietnam-Argentina Joint Committeewill convene a meeting there, proving that apart from political dialogue, bothsides are stepping up trade and technical cooperation dialogues as well.

On the Argentina-Vietnam ties at present, Fauriehighlighted the development of political dialogues, trade, and technicalexchanges over the past years. Argentine President Mauricio Macri invitedVietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the country during a meeting onthe sidelines of the G7 Outreach Summit in Canada. President Macri alsoaccepted an official invitation to visit Vietnam, he said, adding that theArgentine side is working to prepare for the visit slated for next year.

As Argentina is the second largest tradepartner of Vietnam in Latin America, while Vietnam is the sixth largest tradepartner of Argentina in Southeast Asia, Faurie suggested increasing thepresence of Vietnamese products in the Latin American country.

In order to boost exports of Vietnamese farmproduce to Argentina, focus should be given on hygiene safety and plantquarantine, he said, suggesting that goods could be shipped via waterway andtransit points in Mexico or Peru.

Expressing his eagerness to help Vietnamesefirms seek partners for transportation, Faurie said the upcoming visit byVietnamese enterprises is very important.

According to the minister, the two countriesare strong in different agricultural areas for export. Specifically, Argentinais strong in soybeans, corn, and temperate fruits while Vietnam holds strengthin rice and tropical fruits, and as such both sides complement each other withtheir exports. He underscored the need to further increase Vietnamese productsin Argentina.

Priority will be given to trade,diversification of products, and enhanced cooperation with Vietnam so that moreVietnamese products will appear in Argentina, he said.

The minister said Argentina is considering thepossibility of partnering with Vietnam in biotechnology and veterinary medicineto improve product quality.

Vietnam is strong in information technologywhile Argentina is experienced in energy, which could be a direction forcooperation with each other in the future, he added.–VNA