March 16, 2018 | 21:16 (GMT+7)
Australia and Vietnam to boost cooperation in agricultural research
PANO – The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology on March 15 in Canberra, Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to boost cooperation in agriculture, forestry and fisheries research.
The MoU aims to further build on the existing framework to promote and support cooperation amongst qualified research and development institutions, researchers, scientists from Viet Nam and Australia. It will also help to build and improve the capacity of Vietnamese researchers (especially women researchers), managers and key institutions to support sustainable growth in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.
“Our relationship with Vietnam has been consistently strong over the last 25 years, based on mutual respect and a sharing of agricultural expertise and knowledge between our countries”, said Prof. Andrew Campbell, ACIAR CEO.
“Vietnam is a very important partner for ACIAR. It is heartening to see Vietnam transition from being a recipient of aid, to being a proactive, collaborative partner in the development and delivery of well-targeted research projects, many of which involve direct investment from Vietnam alongside Australia.”
ACIAR has been cooperating with Vietnam since the early 1990s, investing around AUD100 million in over 170 research projects across the agriculture, agribusiness, forestry and fisheries sectors.
The MoU signing was witnessed by the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and the Australian Prime Minister the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, on the occasion of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visiting Australia from March 14-18, 2018.
This MoU supports the Strategy for Agricultural Research Collaboration of ACIAR in Viet Nam 2017-2027.
Reported by Song Anh