Hanoi (VNA) – Representatives fromVietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and businessesparticipated in the 20th International Agricultural Exhibition and Conference(Agritech 2018) in Israel on May 8-10.

The event offered an excellent opportunity foragro-enterprises to share experience in various fields such as ecologicalagriculture, fertilizers and chemicals, animal husbandry and milk production,net house cultivation, biotechnology, organic agriculture, fisheries,floriculture, plant protection, and marketing and export services.

Agritech 2018 is one of the world’s mostimportant exhibitions on hi-tech agriculture organized by Israeli Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Ministry of Economy once every three years since 1958 withthe aim of promoting Israel’s advanced technologies and connecting Israelibusinesses with foreign partners.

This year’s event featured over 250 pavilionsand attracted over 10,000 visitors. 

The same day, a business forum between Vietnamand Israel was held. 

Director General of Israel’s Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development Shlomo Ben Eliyahu said business communitiesplay a crucial role in promoting the cooperative relations between the twocountries.

Deputy head of the Communist Party of Vietnam(CPV) Central Committee’s Commission for External Relations Nguyen Huy Tangsaid Agritech 2018 enabled Vietnamese businesses to study the latesttechnologies that are being applied in agriculture in Israel as well as seekcooperation opportunities with Israeli agro-companies.

Despite geographical distance, the two countrieshave enjoyed sound relations in wide-ranging fields, according to Tang.

This year, Vietnam and Israel mark the 25th anniversaryof diplomatic ties, he said, adding that over the past 25 years, the bilateralcollaboration has been stepped up across the board, particularly inscience-technology and agriculture.

Since 2014, the two-way trade has continuously grown,at over 1 billion USD per year, he noted.

Israel is running 27 foreign direct investment(FDI) projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of more than 66million USD, he said, adding that the two countries are pushing ahead withnegotiations on the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).

Tang said he hopes the Vietnam – Israel FTA willbe signed soon, creating a legal framework for and facilitating bilateraltrade.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment Hoang Van Thang expressed his confidence in the strongercooperation between Vietnam and Israel, especially in agriculture. 

Addressing the forum, Vietnamese Ambassador toIsrael Cao Tran Quoc Hai said the Vietnamese Government and people attach muchimportance to the comprehensive cooperation with Israeli State and people.

He highlighted remarkable achievements in thebilateral collaboration in economy, politics, culture, security and defence.

Notably, two-way trade hit 1 billion USD in2017, fivefold against 2009, he raised the fact.

The two sides have conducted four rounds ofnegotiation for the bilateral FTA with important agreements expected to bereached soon, he added.

According to the Ambassador, apart from economicand trade cooperation, many Vietnamese localities and businesses and Israelipartners have successfully transferred technologies to carry out hi-techagricultural projects including dairy production of TH True Milk and growingvegetable in greenhouses of Vingroup.

He highlighted the significance of the forum,which aimed to put forth orientations to strengthen economic partnershipbetween Vietnam and Israel in the future as well as establish a foundation forbusiness connectivity and update businesses with investment cooperationopportunities.-VNA