Confectionery production will see the highest growth in the foodindustry, Vu Quang Hung, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry andTrade's Institute for Industry and Strategy Policies, has said.
Speaking at a recent conference discussing the development of the foodsector by 2020 held in Hanoi last week, Hung said the industry had arelatively high growth rate of 17 percent in the 2006-10 period.
The food industry has become one of the most attractive sectors with a strong growth rate and high consumption, he said.
The sector reported a production value of 17 trillion VND (809.5million USD) in 2011 compared to 6 trillion VND (285.7 million USD) in2005.
In the sector, confectionery production sawthe highest growth rate at 35 percent, glutamate10 percent and instantnoodles 10 percent.
Hung added that the foodindustry is targeting a 14 percent export growth rate in 2020, bringingrevenues to around 1 billion USD by 2030.
Inaddition, he said remarkable changes have occurred in the industry, withconfectionary production rising to account for 40 percent of totalproduction in 2011, replacing instant noodles with 30 percent, droppingfrom its dominant 40 percent in 2005.
The number of confectionery businesses also rapidly increased from 182 in 2005 to 324 in 2011.
However, he said confectionery consumption in Vietnam was 1.9kilos per person a year, which was much lower than the world's yearlyaverage level of 2.4 kilos per person.
In addition,the sector's competitive ability is mainly in domestic market while itsexports are limited. For example, glutamate export totalled only 100million USD last year, which was much lower than its potential.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa said thesector's technology and human resource quality was lower than in othercountries.
Thoa said global economic fluctuationsmade food quality, safety, and hygiene standards all the more importantto the sector’s development.-VNA