The Australasian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Joe Ludwig, is visiting Vietnam from November 4-7 to strengthen ties and build trade opportunities for the agriculture sector ahead of the Asian Century.
The visit, which will take place a week after the launch of the Australia in the Asian Century White Paper, supports the focus of making Australia a leading supplier to the growing Asian marketplace.
“I look forward to discussing new opportunities for Australian producers and exploring how our countries can work together to ensure food security in the region. Our trading relationship with South East Asia is very important to Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries, with exports to Vietnam and Thailand worth nearly USD2 billion last financial year alone”, Minister Ludwig said.
Minister Ludwig will be the first Australian Agriculture Minister to ever visit Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Minister Ludwig will discuss the growing agricultural relationship with Ministerial counterparts and key business leaders. He will advocate the importance of regional free trade agreements such as the ASEAN Australia New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), and will visit a number of food related businesses.
According to a press release issued by the Australian Embassy to Hanoi on November 5, over the next two decades, the size of the Asian middleclass will grow from 500 million to 3.2 billion people, thus making Asia the world’s biggest economic region.
Australia continues to encourage reform of global agricultural markets through multilateral trade liberalisation, and bilateral and regional agreements complement these efforts.
Vietnam and Australia are negotiating the eleven-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). This important regional initiative aims to create a comprehensive, ambitious FTA that will eliminate tariff and other barriers to trade and investment.
The combined value of Australia’s agricultural, fisheries and forestry exports to these two countries was worth more than USD1.975 billion in the 2011-2012 period. Australia’s key export commodities to South East Asia include wheat, cotton, malt, beef, dairy, other animal products, and horticultural produce.
Minister Ludwig will then travel to Thailand from November 7-9 with the same mission.
CPV
Vietnamese
