The agreement was made during the recent First Meeting of the Joint Agriculture Working Group between the two countries.
The meeting was co-chaired by Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning Orlan Calayag and Agriculture and Rural Development Vice Minister Vu Van Tam of Viet Nam.
At the meeting, the two countries agreed to effectively carry out the Memorandum of Agreement on Fisheries Cooperation signed by both counties in 2009.
“We aim to bolster a united effort in aquaculture, fisheries, processing and marketing, including but not limited to advanced technology transfer, training and capacity building, culinary or processing practices, post-harvest technologies and exchange of visits,“ Mr Alcala said.
A hotline to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and to support humanitarian search and rescue operations at sea is also aimed to be established.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of the Philippines and the Directorate of Fisheries of Viet Nam will work on specific details to report to their respective Department and Ministry, respectively, so that the hotline can be permanently established by the end of 2015, Mr Alcala said.
