National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Dr. Joseph Ajanaku, Monday, declared the recent signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and Vietnam a game-changer for Nigeria’s cashew industry. Ajanaku described the MoU as historic, saying the Vietnamese government is highly interested in technology transfer to galvanise the Nigerian cashew industry based on the high cashew production by Nigerian farmers annually. He said the MoU signing took place on October 28 at the 14th Vietnam Cashew Association (VINACAS) Golden Cashew Rendezvous 2025, celebrating 35th VINACAS Anniversary (1990-2025), held in Hanoi City, Vietnam. Ajanaku said at the occasion, President of VINACAS, Mr. Pham Van Cong, signed on behalf of Vietnam, while, he (Ajanaku), President, NCAN, signed for Nigeria. According to Ajanaku, Vietnam has imported over 300,000 metric tonnes of cashew from Nigeria between January and October. The signing of the MoU had Vietnamese government officials and cashew industry players and the Nigerian government representatives, including the Federal Ministry of Industrial Trade and Investment, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, representative of Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM) Bank, Kogi State Government representative, and technical partner to Kogi State on Agriculture, Agro-Trading Consort, and a team from NCAN. He said, “In order to open the trade and transfer of technology between Nigeria and Vietnam, we successfully signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which has never happened before. “This is the first time Nigeria is signing an MoU with the largest cashew-processing nation in the world. Basically, it is to facilitate transfer of technology and how we can open more the trading partnership between Vietnam and Nigeria, and even with other countries. “This was recognised in our interaction with them, that they know we have our own capacity, strength, and they also recognise that they have their own capacity and strength, because we cannot shy away from the fact that they have technology more than us, and they are well advanced in terms of industrialisation than we do. “And so, they agreed on this fact that they have the technology, but we have the capacity to produce more than what any other part of the world can produce, looking at the available arable land we have in Nigeria.” Ajanaku further explained, “The MoU talks about our working together in collaboration to see that our production capacity is further enhanced and developed, while they also press down in seeing that we process what we are producing in Nigeria. Also, we will be feeding their country with what we are producing here, for them to have products also to process in their own country. “So, we have this understanding, and this MoU has been signed, therefore, it is a game-changer for Nigeria’s cashew industry and a good thing that has happened to us in Nigeria, to have cashew production and processing enhance and increase in Nigeria.” Meanwhile, he said Vietnamese investors are arriving Nigeria anytime soon “to see how they can begin to invest in processing in Nigeria.” He also disclosed, “The MoU is signed for one year, and we are going to start implementation immediately. It started from the very day that we signed it, and it will be renewed every year. “And we are starting with 2026 season trade, and with 2026 season, we are going to be exporting to them to Vietnam.”