U.S. Vietnam need to cement ties in IT for agriculture

Ho Chi Minh City - The United States and Vietnam should strengthen cooperation in the use of information technology (IT) for developing agriculture, said experts at a seminar as part of the Vietnam IT Outsourcing Conference last week.

American and Vietnamese IT experts discussed the possibility of stepping up cooperation in hi-tech agriculture.

Tu Minh Thien, deputy head of the management board of the HCMC Agricultural Hi-Tech Park (AHTP), said the nation’s agriculture sector mainly uses IT solutions to improve farming productivity and check product origin, among others.

The sector has yet to provide financial technology services for farmers such as smart payment cards and mobile banking. AHTP and the Quang Trung Software City (QTSC) have been working together to apply IT solutions.

They have so far gained some positive results such as greenhouse farming backed by the Internet of Things (IoT) and establishment of an agricultural ecosystem.

QTSC has teamed up with some IT companies to offer useful IT solutions for agriculture. Some have been applied at hi-tech agricultural parks on a trial basis, and have been officially conducted at local farms.

IT experts were of the opinion that agricultural ties between Vietnam and the U.S. remain loose as the Southeast Asian nation mainly relies on technology from Israel, the Netherlands and Japan.

Therefore, they called for the two countries to improve cooperation, prop up commercial activities, and research and develop tech solutions for agriculture.

They said a mere 1% of the U.S. population relies on agriculture but their farming products are enough for the domestic market and foreign countries thanks to hi-tech agriculture.

The Vietnam IT Outsourcing Alliance will team up with the U.S. Silicon Valley Forum to promote commercial activities and receive IT solutions for agriculture from the U.S.