Food processing industry sees stable growth

Foreign and domestic investment has led to an annual growth rate of 10 percent for the food processing industry sector in recent years.
Food processing industry sees stable growth ảnh 1The food processing industry sector has seen annual stable growth rate of 10 percent in recent years (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNS/VNA) -Foreign and domestic investment has led to an annual growth rate of 10 percentfor the food processing industry sector in recent years.

The industry has supplied highly competitiveproducts to both domestic and foreign markets, while export turnover forprocessed and agricultural products totalled more than 40 billion USD lastyear, according to the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industryand Trade.

Vietnamese products have also reached multipletechnical standards and are present in many countries, including the US, Japan,the Republic of Korea and the EU.

Last year alone, food and beverage consumptionincreased by 18 percent, the agency said, adding that the value accounted for15 percent of the country’s GDP and would go up in the coming time.

Abundant raw materials, stable and high economicgrowth, a favourable investment environment, and good infrastructure atindustrial parks are factors that have helped attract investors in the sector.

In addition, free trade agreements have openedup opportunities for domestic food firms to enhance exports and attract moreforeign investors in the sector.

For foreign investors, the abundance ofagricultural products and foodstuff in the country is an advantage. Vietnam isconsidered one of the top five food baskets in the world and one of the top 15largest countries by agriculture exports.

But to capitalise on the opportunity, localfirms need to invest more in deep processing to add more value to the products.

They also need to improve their productiontechnologies, apply good manufacturing practices and develop close linkageswith multinational food processing groups in Vietnam to participate in theglobal food supply chain, said Tran Kim Oanh, Director of the Trade PromotionAgency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

To be competitive, local investors have poured 11trillion VND (about 500 million USD) into 17 fruit, vegetable and meatsprocessing factories such as the 15ha fruit processing plant in Tay Ninh provinceinvested by Lavifood Joint Stock Company costing 1.78 trillion VND (76.7million USD).

It is the first factory in Vietnam with a LeedSilver certificate and one of the five most modern fruit and vegetableprocessing plants in the Asia-Pacific region.

The plant will produce frozen fruits, juices,dried fruits, soft-dried fruits, and fruit juice concentrates for export to theUS, the EU, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Australia.

With a capacity of 60,000 tonnes of finishedproducts a year, the plant will process all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

To attract investment and develop the food processingsector in a sustainable manner, Vietnam needs to create a zoning plan forhigh-quality material area and meet food safety standards of the global foodsupply chain, experts say.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade,Vietnam is among the world’s largest exporters of rice, coffee, pepper andcashew nuts.

Vietnam has 5,500 food and drink manufacturingenterprises, with 2,000 of them located in HCM City.

Exports of farm produce, especially fruits andvegetables, have seen good growth over recent years, with products exported tomore than 100 countries and territories.-VNS/VNA
VNA

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