A Vietnam-Nigeria cashew trade conference was held in Ho Chi Minh Cityon February 3 as part of efforts to boost partnership between the twocountries in the field.

Addressing the event,Chairman of the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas) Nguyen Duc Thanhaddressed the number of difficulties facing cashew trade between the twocountries, including modest quality of cashew nuts imported fromNigeria and payment barriers.

At the same time, thetwo countries have yet to design an effective collaboration mechanismto deal with trade conflicts, he added.

Meanwhile,Chairman of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria Babatotla Faserusaid the Nigerian market pledges to improve its raw cashew quality in2015 by organising training courses for farmers and developingproduction chains.

Nigeria will also apply advanced equipment and technology to enhance cashew quality, he vowed.

According to the Vinacas, Vietnam will transfer cashew cultivationtechnology to Nigeria and other African partners during theinternational cashew conference in November this year. The associationis also willing to provide post-harvest technology to Nigeria to reduceloss.

The Vinacas reported that in 2014 Vietnamproduced a record 1.4 million tonnes of raw cashew nuts, 305,000 tonnesof which were exported, a rise of 16.9 percent from 2013.

Throughout the year, Vietnamese enterprises imported 769,000 tonnes, a59 percent increase from 2013. As many as 13.4 percent of the totalimports were sourced from from Nigeria.-VNA