Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha KimNgoc held phone talks with US Under Secretary of Agriculture Ted McKinney inWashington DC on May 6 with a view to promoting agricultural cooperationbetween the two countries.

The talks were also attended by representativesof Vietnam’s trade office in the US and the agriculture counsellor at the USEmbassy in Vietnam.

Voicing their delight at the progress in thecountries’ relations, Ngoc and McKinney affirmed that phone talks betweenVietnamese and US leaders, including the event between Prime Minister NguyenXuan Phuc and President Donald Trump, along with the one between Deputy PrimeMinister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Secretary of State MikePompeo, are of great importance as they have created momentum for bilateralpartnerships.

Regarding agricultural trade, Ambassador Ngocsaid Vietnam is actively carrying out an action plan towards harmonious andsustainable trade between the two nations. He emphasised the country’scommitment to further opening the Vietnamese market and purchasing more goodsand services, including agricultural products, from the US.

The diplomat informed about the recent effortsby the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant agencies ofVietnam to license 469 meat production facilities, 219 seafood production onesand hi-tech agricultural products of the US, and to organise businessdelegations to the US to promote beef, corn and soybean import deals.

He also asked the US side to soon licenseVietnam’s fresh pomelos, allow the Hanoi Irradiation Centre to irradiate freshfruits for export, and permit the use of steam as one of the methods forhandling fruits destined for the US.

For his part, Under Secretary of AgricultureMcKinney highly valued Vietnam’s active implementation of the countries’agricultural cooperation agreements.

He stressed the US Government’s support for theuse of safe agricultural chemicals, and asked Vietnam to continue consideringthe regulations related to certificates of free sale in Decree 13 that guidesthe enforcement of the Law on Animal Husbandry.

The official also said he was impressed with histwo previous visits to Vietnam and hopes to visit the country again at an earlydate./.