Following the visits to IRRI – Philippines in 2012 and Thailand IRRI (June, 2013), during August 3 to 6, 2013, Petrovietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo) organized a sightseeing and fact-finding trip to IRRI – Philippines for 28 delegates of Cultivation Department – Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agricultural administration agencies, agricultural extension centers, and good farmers from 21 provinces around the country.
In the afternoon of August 2, at PVFCCo’s headquarter, PVFCCo held a meeting with the delegation before their departure. The meeting was attended by Mr. Pham Van Du – Deputy Director of Cultivation Department, Head of Southern Representative office, the delegation members, and PVFCCo’s leaders including Mr. Duong Tri Hoi – PVFCCo’s Vice President & CEO and leaders of PVFCCo’s specialized divisions.
At the meeting, on behalf of PVFCCo’s leaders, Mr. Duong Tri Hoi wished the delegation a useful and meaningful trip and thanked the delegation members for their close collaboration on product introduction and technical guidance activities in order to supply PVFCCo’s products to farmers in person. At the same time, he also provided further information on PVFCCo’s business and production situation. The delegation visited PVFCCo’s Tradition Hall and listened to introduction about PVFCCo’s establishment and development history.
The organization of sightseeing and fact-finding trip to IRRI – Philippines was one of PVFCCo’s activities to express gratitude to officials in agriculture and agricultural promotion at Agriculture Departments, Agricultural Promotion Centers, Plant Protection Sub-Departments, and farmers around the country for their support to PVFCCo’s development. This was also a chance for agricultural officials and farmers to visit the International Rice Research Institute – IRRI which has produced seeds for about 70% of Vietnam rice field areas today, has the largest sample field in the world. For them, this trip was very much desired according to Mr. Tran Ngoc The – Director of Hau Giang Province Plant Protection Sub-Department: “In spite of 30 years working in agriculture and having heard about IRRI from the very first day, I had no chances to visit IRRI until now! “
 On August 5, 2013, the delegation of Cultivation Department – Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, agricultural administration agencies, agricultural promotion centers, and excellent farmers from 21 provinces over the country (held by PVFCCo) visited and worked at IRRI – Philippines. The delegation received a warm welcome from the Board of Directors, project leaders, and experts of the Institute.
At the meeting, the Institute exchanged experience with the delegation on rice production in various countries around the world, in areas with different soil types such as salty land, drought land, etc. Then, through the Institute officials, the delegation was provided with more information on popular rice varieties in the world, past and present farming tools, instructions about advanced knowledge on post-harvest handling and storage, advanced machinery and equipment researched and developed by IRRI, etc. On this occasion, IRRI and PVFCCo mutually agreed and expressed the desire to build and develop long-term cooperation between the two sides through technical assistance and implementation of IRRI’s Vietnam-related projects.