Vietnam and Japan have agreed to boost agro-forestry-fisheries product trade during their second high-level dialogue on agricultural development cooperation in Hanoi on August 12. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said Vietnam has created opportunities for Japan’s beef, pork and poultry to enter the market. He called on the Japanese side to grant licences for Vietnamese mango imports and consider importing red-fleshed dragon fruit and fresh litchi from the Southeast Asian nation. Minister Phat pledged to facilitate Japanese investment operations as well as joint ventures between the two countries, improve productivity and product quality, and create added values for farm produce. Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Hayashi Yoshimasa suggested Vietnam open its door for his country’s apples this coming September. In response, Phat said the two countries have reached consensus on the requirements set for Japanese apples and proposed Japan create conditions for Vietnamese quarantine experts to perform their tasks diligently throughout the production, selection, cleaning and packaging of apples. At the dialogue, the two ministers spoke highly of the close bilateral agricultural cooperation over the past years and heard reports on building mid and long-term agricultural cooperation between Vietnam and Japan from 2015-2019. The two sides will step up the application of the public-private partnership model in agro-forestry-fisheries trade and boost collaboration in improving the value chain of farm produce from production to harvest and distribution of products. They will also work to expand material areas for production. Minister Phat hoped that with its hi-tech agriculture, high competitiveness and good management skills, Japan would help Vietnam modernise its agriculture.-VNA