Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday, November 23, 2011, begins a 4 day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of President Truong Tan Sang. This is the highest level visit to Vietnam by an Israeli leader since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1993. The visit opens up opportunities for bilateral cooperation in such areas as agriculture, science, technology, trade, labor and tourism.
Since 1993, Vietnam and Israel have engaged in activities to enhance mutual understanding and strengthen cooperation in economics, trade, training, experience sharing and particularly in agriculture, irrigation and health care. Both sides recently have seen their bilateral ties growing. Last March, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved guidelines to accelerate comprehensive cooperation with Israel. Two way trade last year stood at more than 220 million USD, 34% higher than 2008. Currently, Israel ranks 54th of a total 93 countries and territories investing in Vietnam Israeli companies have invested in major projects in Hanoi, Khanh Hoa and Ho Chi Minh city. However, agriculture is considered an advantageous area for bilateral cooperation."I think the most immediate one is agriculture because this day agriculture is less and less depended on the water or land and more and more hi-tech. As the result, our yields per hectare are 20 times higher than any other country. The amount of water is the third and the quality of the food and the vegetable is delicious. In our cases, agriculture does not need any subsidies, they are in a good shape. I do not see any reason why Vietnam can not do the same. But then the future bases on science. We want to cooperate with VietNam on many domains not only agriculture. Many of our domains that Vietnam will be impressed.", President Shimon Peres told a VOV reporter ahead of his Vietnam visit.
Despite its limited natural resources, Israel has recorded magnificent economic achievements thanks to its application high tech in agriculture and industry. Israel is one of 25 countries with highest income per capita. Its agriculture and industry are in world’s top list. In recent years, Israel has sent experts to Vietnam for technological transfer. Vietnamese Ambassador to Israel Dinh Xuan Luu says Israel’s technological advances are useful for Vietnam’s economic development. “Vietnam has potential in human resources, but without scientific and technological advances, our national industrialization and modernization will face difficulties. For Israel, Vietnam is a vast market, a member of ASEAN and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area with a population of 1.9 billion”, he said.
Currently, joint projects on horticulture and dairy cow breeding which use Israeli technologies in Ha Noi, Hai Phong, Nghe An, Da Lat and Ho Chi Minh city have proved to be effective. In addition, Vietnam and Israel have worked closely in water pollution mitigation, irrigation technology, and water recycle and treatment. “Vietnam is interested in Israel’s water treatment technologies, water management and the localization of these technologies. This area will provide prerequisite for bilateral cooperation”, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien said.
Vietnam and Israel have signed numerous cooperative agreements in economics, science and technology, agriculture, trade, tourism, culture and aviation. Both sides have also reached agreements on visa exemption for diplomatic and official passport holders, on double taxation and anti-tax evasion. Welcoming President Shimon Peres to Hanoi, Vietnam reiterates its wish to promote multifaceted cooperation with Israel, as part of its policy on diversification and multilateralization of relations with the rest of the world.
Anh Huyen and VOVTV