- Vietnam and Iowa sign MoUs worth $800M, boosting bilateral agri exports and supply chain cooperation.
- Vietnam's minister leads 50-member agri delegation to the US for trade talks and import discussions.
- New deals aim to enhance pork trade, share technology, and promote sustainable farming in Vietnam.
Vietnam's Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Do Duc Duy is heading a group of almost 50 agricultural organizations, businesses, and associations on a trip to the US from June 1 to 7, intended to investigate trade promotion possibilities and the import of US agro-forestry-fishery goods.
On June 2, Duy and his team engaged in a fruitful working meeting with Iowa's Department of Agriculture, featuring Secretary Mike Naig and Deputy Secretary Grant Menke.
During the event, both parties recognized the existing condition of agricultural trade partnership while exchanging details about business requirements and opportunities for collaboration. The talks established tangible routes to enhance premium agricultural exports between Iowa and Vietnam and vice versa.
Iowa, recognized as the "Heart of Agriculture" in the United States, is the top corn producer in the country, yielding 50 million tonnes each year. The state also excels in generating various other agricultural products such as soybeans, wheat, pork, and beef.
Duy highlighted that Vietnam has emerged as a top agricultural exporter globally, playing an important role in ensuring food security worldwide, while enhancing its processing capabilities and elevating quality standards to foster sustainable agriculture. He stressed that Vietnam and the US are ideally suited to support one another in establishing stable and enduring agricultural supply chains.
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The success of the trade mission is represented by the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) established between businesses and organizations from Vietnam and Iowa, amounting to 800 million USD over a span of three years. These are substantial agreements in contrast to the 44 million USD in agricultural exports from Iowa to Vietnam in 2024.
The public–private partnership between the two nations further grew through a memorandum of understanding between Vietnam’s Department of Livestock Production and Animal Health and the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA). Both parties agreed to enhance trade relations and foster cooperation between the Vietnamese and Iowa pork sectors by arranging technical seminars, market promotion, and trade missions.
The meeting also offered chances for various Vietnamese and US companies to engage, creating new pathways to improve trade relations and reinforce the agricultural supply chain connections between Vietnam and the US. These ties are anticipated to speed up the transfer of cutting-edge US technologies to Vietnamese agribusinesses, leading to green, intelligent, and sustainable agricultural growth in Vietnam.