Argentina interested in Vietnamese tropical fruits: ambassador

Argentine Ambassador Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino (left) shakes hand with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh at a meeting on June 25. (Photo: nongnghiep.vn)

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Argentina is interested in Vietnamese tropical fruits, and hopes that Vietnam will help the South American country understand more about the products, Argentine Ambassador Luis Pablo Maria Beltramino has said.

At a recent meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, the ambassador said Argentina has opened door for Vietnamese lychee, longan, mango and dragon fruit.

Highlighting the development of trade in agricultural products between the two countries, he asked that Vietnam create conditions for Argentina’s pork and beef to penetrate the Vietnamese market.

For his part, Doanh said despite difficulties caused by COVID-19 last year, two-way trade still reached 3.95 billion USD, up 4.3 percent against 2019. Argentina is now Vietnam’s third largest trade partner in South America, after Brazil and Mexico.

The two countries have great potential for agricultural cooperation and their products are reciprocal, according to the official.

The deputy minister underlined the imbalance in farm produce trade between the two countries, with Vietnam’s exports valued at only about 3 million USD each year, while its imports from Argentina is estimated at 3 billion USD, urging the two sides to work together to deal with the imbalance.

Many Vietnamese products can satisfy Argentina’s consumer demands like pangasius, shrimp, tropical fruits and wooden furniture, he said.

Doanh also suggested the two countries cooperate in agricultural technologies and climate change response./.