An agricultural project launched by a private Taiwanese firm in southern Vietnam in 2007 has begun to bear fruit, reports Focus Taiwan.
A selection of the fruits and vegetables being grown under the initiative, including Taiwanese guava, jujube, bitter melon, aubergine and cucumber, were on display in Cu Chi County last weekend at a celebration to mark the project's progress.
Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai praised Taiwan's Chinfon Group and Taiwanese agricultural specialists for their contribution to improving agricultural development in Vietnam, and said he hoped the Chinfon project could be expanded to the whole of Vietnam.
Taiwan-based Chinfon Group - one of Taiwan's largest motorbike manufacturers - started the project in Cu Chi in 2007 to help local farmers improve their techniques, raise output and sharpen their marketing skills. Among other measures, the group sent Vietnamese seed farmers to Taiwan to pick up new knowledge.
At the event, Chinfon Group chairman Huang Shih-hui signed a new agreement with Vietnam's ministry of agriculture and rural development committing to a second round of agricultural cooperation from 2011 to 2013.
