Speaking at the session, Agriterra Managing Director Kees Blokland introduced the centre’s activities and horticulture cooperation model between Vietnam and the Netherlands.

He said Agriterra gathers the involvement of manufacturers, researchers, businesses and government in flower production and trade, adding that it offers consultancy-training, experience sharing, access to bank loans and improvement of services for farmers’ organisations, as well as facilitates dialogues among farmers, government and businesses.

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National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (2nd from right) visits World Horti Centre

According to him, Agriterra sent experts to Vietnam and welcomed a Vietnam Farmers’ Union delegation to the Netherlands for training. It also signed an action programme on cooperation with the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance which was approved by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

The centre’s flower transaction floor now boasts 4,000 member cooperatives, including 450 international ones, attracts 2,000 consumers and earns 4.7 billion EUR (5.8 billion USD) annually from export to 140 countries worldwide.

The floor records roughly 110,000 transactions per day and sells 12.4 billion branches of 20,000 different flower species.

The Vietnamese NA leader learned about Agriterra’s operating experience, especially manufacturing by value chain and the role of the legislature and government in supporting Agriterra and Dutch cooperatives in policies and resources.

Source: VNA