Food producers should focus on enhancing the role of supply and value chains in the food industry to create high quality and added value farm products and food.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai stressed this during his speech at a conference in Ho Chi Minh City on May 14 hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Department of Trade Promotion.

According to the MoIT, Vietnam offers many products with high-export value in the world market such as cashew nuts, pepper, rice and coffee.

Vietnam’s export turnover of farm products in 2014 reached over 30 billion USD and is expected to continue growing.

However, the country is facing difficulties in shipping goods to foreign markets due to its weakness in processing capacity and trademarks.

Experts said barriers to Vietnam joining global supply chain include shortcomings in managing the quality of products and the high cost for production and business. Meanwhile, international markets are increasingly seeking free trade options, resulting in greater competitiveness.

Pham Minh Duc from the World Bank in Vietnam stressed the need to roll out practical measures to increase the export value of farm products and food while focusing on managing quality and enhancing efficiency in production, processing and distribution to meet the strict requirements of foreign markets.

Measures to ensure food safety should be implemented for all supply chains in order to facilitate trademark generation and bring prestige, Duc said.

Vo Thanh Do, Deputy Head of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Production, suggested farm products and food producers intensify the application of advanced science and technologies in processing.

He said the added value of agro-forestry-fisheries products is hoped to increase by 20 percent and the rate of post-harvest loss reduce 50 percent by 2020.-VNA