The first Vietnam International Food Industry Exhibition (Vietnam Food Expo 2015) will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from May 13 to 16, aiming to boost consumption of Vietnamese food in both domestic and export markets.

It also aims to help domestic firms involved in production, processing and trading of farm produce, food and beverages to source right production technologies in order to raise their productivity and quality, said Ta Hoang Linh, deputy general director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

As a national trade promotion programme, Vietnam Food Expo 2015 is the largest of its kind in the country and will feature more than 500 booths of over 300 exhibitors from Vietnam's 36 cities and provinces and 19 other countries and territories, including India, Belgium, Cuba, Taiwan (China), the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

A wide range of farm produce, seafood products, processed food products, beverages, food processing technologies and machineries, food preservation and packaging technologies, and others will be displayed at the expo.

Held at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre, the event also includes the Vietnam international conference on the food industry, where participants will discuss solutions to raise the value of Vietnamese food products, improve competitiveness, and enhance the ability of Vietnamese enterprises to join the global value chain.

Many other activities such as the Saigon International Cooking Contest, business meetings, culinary demonstrations, and factory tours will be organised during the show.

Organised by Vietrade and Adpex JS Company, the expo is expected to welcome 30,000 visitors, he said.-VNA