Commodities Trade Key To Boosting Kl-Vietnam Trade To US$15 Bln

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Agriculture and commodities trade holds the key in realising Malaysia’s and Vietnam’s target to boost bilateral trade value to US$15 billion (US$1=RM4.22) by 2020, from around US$12 billion currently, said Malaysia's Minister of Plantation Industry and Commodities, Mah Siew Keong. In a statement Wednesday, the ministry said, trade in commodities and commodity-based products between the two countries from January-July 2017 rose by 27 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM2.8 billion. During the same period, palm oil exports had also increased by 27 per cent to RM1.3 billion, while exports in the rubber sector had increased by 29 per cent y-o-y to RM254 million. In an effort to strengthen the position of Malaysia’s commodity exports in Vietnam’s market, the ministry said Mah had led a delegation to Vietnam from Oct 2-4, 2017. The delegation comprised representatives from Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysian Rubber Board, Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council and the Malaysian Pepper Board, it said. “Among other things, the delegation will also seek opportunities to increase strategic collaborations between the countries in technological developments, especially for the palm oil, rubber and pepper industries,” it said. Meanwhile, Vietnam’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong, said the country was ready to strengthen bilateral ties in the development of the agriculture sector, especially in the downstream sector in the production of high-quality oil palm, rubber and pepper products. During the visit, the minister had also accepted Malaysia’s invitation to become a full-fledged member of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), and said that Vietnam would be sending a delegation to take part in the ITRC Conference next year, to be held in Kuala Lumpur. Nguyen said Vietnam was also committed and ready to adopt ITRC’s resolutions which were passed during the council’s recent conference in Bangkok, Thailand. The resolutions included the initiatives to increase the usage of natural rubber via the construction of rubberised roads, and the agreement to share expertise in the development of the rubber industry technology. -- BERNAMA