Monday morning December 12, the Prime Minister of Vietnam, His Excellency Mr. Pham Minh Chinh, visited World Horti Center in Naaldwijk. In addition to the prime minister, among others, the Vietnamese ministers of Agriculture & Rural Development and Natural Resources & Environment were present. The most important pillars of this visit were business relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, the development of a sustainable horticultural value chain and how education can contribute to climate-smart technologies.

Main focus on collaboration

The mayor of Westland, Bouke Arends, warmly welcomed the delegation to the municipality. In his speech he focused on the role of the Westland region as an agricultural and logistics hub and the relationship with Vietnam. Bouke Arends: ‘The ties and trade between our two countries in this area has been strong for many years with a Strategic Partnership Arrangement as a result.’ Mr. Frederik Vossenaar, Special Envoy of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, emphasized in his speech: ‘The Netherlands is happy to be part of your success. And, in the interest of both our countries, we are looking forward to further work together. Building on our 50 years of diplomatic relations, a milestone we reach next year, in 2023.’ During his speech, the Prime Minister of Vietnam said that he sees the Netherlands as a top exporter of agricultural products and hoped to learn from the sector during his visit.

Exchange of knowledge and innovations

Employees from the companies RijkZwaan, NedSpice, Koppert and The Fruit Republic were present to give a pitch about their company. The focus was on the important cooperation with Vietnam. Furthermore, The Netherlands Vietnam Horti Business Platform explained how they are trying to take the Vietnamese horticultural sector to the next level by joining forces. The tour through World Horti Center was concluded with a visit to the research facility of Vertify. Here teachers from Lentiz Education Group explained how education and climate-smart solutions can be coordinated in Vietnam. A peek inside the All Climate Greenhouse was an important part of this last stop.

Puck van Holsteijn, director of World Horti Center, looks back proudly on thi visit: 'I had the honor of giving the Prime Minister and his ministers a tour through our building. During this tour, several pitches were given by companies active in the food and flower industry, with a focus on cooperation between our countries. This has shown that it is important to continue to share our knowledge and innovations and to help each other in this way. We are proud that we have yet again provided another delegation with new knowledge about our sector.”