Recently, in Hanoi, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in collaboration with the Israeli Embassy in Vietnam, held the "Vietnam-Israel Business meeting". The meeting was organised on the visit to Vietnam of Israel's Minister of Agriculture, Mr Yair Shamir.
Minister Yair Shamir was accompanied by Israel's leading companies, as well as Israeli government officials. The Israeli companies mainly operate in the agricultural and high-tech sectors.
Israel has modern agriculture, known as the "Silicon Valley" of the world in the field of agriculture and water technology. Though only 2.5 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture, Israel annually exports agricultural products worth about US$3 billion, making it one of the world's leading exporters. Participating in the meeting, Vietnam’s businesses had the opportunity to meet and share experiences with Israel's leading experts in the field of agriculture, high technology, and find investment opportunities and new partnerships.
Vietnam and Israel established diplomatic relations on July 12, 1993. In December of the same year, Israel opened its embassy in Hanoi, starting many activities to expand mutual understanding, economic cooperation, trade, training, and exchange of experience in science and technology, especially in the fields of agriculture, irrigation and health.
For the past 20 years, Vietnam and Israel have significantly developed cooperation in agriculture, especially high-tech agriculture. Through the cooperation programmes and projects, Israel has supported Vietnam in developing modern technology to increase productivity and efficiency in the various sectors of agriculture.
In addition, cooperation on bilateral trade has also been developed. In 2012, Vietnam-Israel trade reached US$1.1 billion, nearly twice that of 2011. Vietnam exports footwear, clothing and agricultural products, and imports from Israel high-tech equipment, chemicals, fertilizer, etc.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
