Can Tho, Potentials for Further Cooperation with Colombia

On the occasion to Can Tho city to attend the opening ceremony of the Vietnam International Agriculture 2017, Madam Claudia Liliana Zambrano Naranjo, Chargé d'Affaires e.p. Head of Mission, Embassy of Colombia to Vietnam paid a courtesy call to Can Tho city leaders on November 22^nd, 2017.

Can Tho city leaders and Madam Claudia Liliana Zambrano Naranjo at the courtesy call on 22/11/2017

Madam Claudia conveyed her congratulations and gratitude towards the city leaders for the impressive development of the transportation system, economy and warm welcome, respectively. Same as its counterpart, Colombia is also famous for agricultural and industrial production. Therefore, the purposes of the trip were not only her participation in the fair but also exploration of possibilities for cooperation opportunities between Colombia and Can Tho city in areas that both sides have shared interests and potentials.

She stated that there would be plenty of chances for Colombia and Can Tho city to cooperate in the future, especially after the visit of Madam Doan Thi Ngoc Thinh, Deputy President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to Colombia in 2016. In this trip, some MOUs in agriculture, culture and tourism were signed which would open "doors" for relevant stakeholders of both sides to join hands to implement cooperation projects, activities mutually agreed by their country leaders. "Colombia is always ready to collaborate with Can Tho city in new sectors, e.g. climate change, mitigation of natural disasters", said her.

To contribute to achieving the objectives of the signed MOUs, Madam Claudia committed to providing Can Tho city and its enterprises/ companies a list of fairs, exhibitions and events organized in Colombia for their reference and decision for attendance. She additionally suggested for cooperation between the Embassy of Colombia to Vietnam and Can Tho city to organize a photograph gallery in the city to help its citizens understand more about the country, people, images of Colombia and vice versa.

In response to Madam Chargé d'Affaires e.p. Head of Mission, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dung, Deputy Chairman of the People's Committee highlighted that the city's export turnovers to Colombia in 2016 were 13.2 million USD focusing on seafood, garments etc., but Colombia products have not been imported to the city yet. "However, economic development and future cooperation potentials between Can Tho city and Colombia are huge", said confidently Mr. Dung.

Mr. Dung agreed with Madam Claudia's remarks in that her trip to Can Tho is a great opportunity for both sides to understand appropriate sectors, activities and projects for cooperation expansion. He also welcomed Madam Claudia's ideas in keeping Can Tho city updated about events taken in Colombia for its participation where applicable and in collaborating with the city to organize the photograph gallery to boost mutual understanding of the two peoples. Particularly for the latter, upon receiving detailed information from the Embassy of Colombia to Vietnam, Can Tho city would assign relevant stakeholders for discussions with the Embassy for the event organization.