On the afternoon of July 15, the Provincial People's Committee had a meeting with a delegation of experts from the Japan International Cooperation Agency on cooperation in the agriculture field and the activities of the Agricultural Market forum in Nghe An province in the near future.

Attending the meeting, on the side of the expert delegation from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), there are Mr. Murooka Naomichi - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office; Mr. KuboYashitomo - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office and members of the delegation of JICA Vietnam Office.

Welcoming and working with the delegation are Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Member of Standing Committee of Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of Provincial People's Committee (PPC); and representatives of leaders of relevant departments, agencies and sectors.

Overview of the meeting

Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu, Vice Chairman of the PPC speaks

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu - Vice Chairman of the PPC expressed: Please accept the deepest condolences of the Government and people of Nghe An province on the death of Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on July 8, 2022. The death of Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is not only a great loss to Japan, but Vietnam also lost an extremely close and dear friend. On the occasion of your business trip, the Government and people of Nghe An province send the deepest sympathy to the death of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Shinzo.

Over the past years, with the attention, direction and support of the Central Government, the cooperation of localities, agencies and units, international organizations, especially the support of JICA, Party Committee, Government and People of Nghe An province have made great efforts and achieved important results. The economy has continued to grow well. The people's living standards have been constantly improved and national defense and security has been maintained. Especially, on attracting FDI, from the beginning of the year until now, Nghe An province has attracted 580 million USD in foreign investment capital, ranked in the top 10 leading localities nationwide in attracting foreign investment in the first 6 months of 2022.

With framework of the medium and long-term vision between Vietnam and Japan for the 2015-2020 period, Nghe An has been implementing 03 projects supported by JICA in the agricultural field such as: Project for Restoration and Upgrading of Northern Irrigation System (in progress); Project for Restoration and Sustainable Management of Protection Forests in Nghe An province (JICA2 project in progress); Technical Cooperation Project on Development Planning of Agriculture in Nghe An Province (closed). These projects have brought great effects in the socio-economic development process in Nghe An.

Sincere thanks to Mr. Murooka Naomichi - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office for his interest and help in Nghe An during his term in Vietnam, Mr. Hoang Nghia Hieu, Vice Chairman of PPC hoped that in the coming time, Nghe An province would like to receive more attention from JICA and from Mr. Kubo Yoshitomo - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office (as the successor to Mr. Murooka Naomichi) to help Nghe An fulfill economic growth targets in general and Agriculture in particular in the 2021-2025 period. Especially interested in supporting Nghe An to implement the project of South Nghe An Irrigation; agreed to extend the implementation period of the North Nghe An Irrigation Improvement project for another 2 years to July 2025 to implement the remaining capital; promoting the development of food value chains, digital transformation in connection and consumption of agricultural products.

At the meeting, representatives of leaders of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported on the deployment of 3 JICA-supported projects related to the agricultural sector. In which, the Technical Cooperation Project on Development Planning of Agriculture in Nghe An Province ended in March 2019. The outstanding result of the project is the establishment of the Agricultural Market Forum in Nghe An Province and the Forum is currently operating very effectively.

Regarding the operation of the Agricultural Market Forum, since the adjustment of the Management Board, the Forum has achieved many positive results. Specifically, build, upgrade, and put into operation the website: www.ampf.vn in order to update the databases of producers and traders, post advertisements, buy and sell products. After upgrading and putting into operation from November 2021, the Website is currently operating stably with an average of nearly 300 visits per day and many orders have been transacted between buyers and sellers on the website. In 2022, the Agricultural Market Forum has successfully deployed the branding and promotion of the Ky Son plum brand. As a result, Ky Son plum products have been sold out in this year and plum production is not enough to meet the market demand.

The Agricultural Market Forum has also been building value chain models such as: model of new rice varieties; model of using biological products in the production of oranges with organic standards; VietGAP vegetables and fruits growing models and many other models associated with the goal of supporting production facilities to create standard and quality products to meet the needs of domestic and foreign markets. Collaborating with JICA to successfully organize a workshop on efficient record keeping system in agriculture.

In the coming time, the Agricultural Market Forum will continue to survey, collect market information and update the database of production and business establishments inside and outside the province; propagandize and promote agricultural products of the province on internet and television channels and newspapers; connecting and supporting the development of agricultural product production along the value chain, linking production with product consumption markets; database management and website operation; organizing training for participants in the value chain; organizing a conference to connect the supply and demand of agricultural products of Nghe An province.

Mr. Murooka Naomichi - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office thanks Nghe An province for its warm affection during his working term in Vietnam.

Thanks for the enthusiastic and warm welcome of Nghe An province, Mr. KuboYoshitomo - Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office hopes to continue to receive the attention of leaders of Nghe An province so that the two sides can have better cooperation in the future.

Kim Oanh