A farmer harvests sugar cane (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) - The sugar industry needs to restructure to competewith rivals in other countries such as Thailand, according to the Vietnam Sugarand Sugarcane Association.
Speaking at a meeting in HCM City on May 25, Pham Hong Duong, deputy chairmanof the association, said: “We need to review our internal factors to find waysto improve the sugar content in sugarcane, reduce production costs andeliminate intermediaries in the sugar distribution process.”
Sugar mills need to invest more in technologies to cut costs and improvequality, diversify their products, produce organic products or sugar productsthat are good for health, and invest in producing downstream products likesyrups, ethanol and others, he said.
"Some large sugar companies have made positive changes by focusing onimproving their productivity and investing more in developing more sugarvarieties to improve their competitiveness," Duong said.
He said the association would call on the Government to make development plansfor the sugar industry.
The association has signed memorandums of understanding with beverage companiesto sell sugar and would continue to do so in future, he said.
When the market becomes steady, so would sugar production and sugarcanecultivation, he said.
Cheap sugar smuggled in from Thailand has caused difficulties for Vietnam’s sugarand sugarcane industry in recent years.
"So the association would continue to urge relevant ministries andagencies to step up the fight against smuggling, establish technical barriersand inspect the quality of sugar in the market and tighten checks of importsostensibly meant for re-export," Duong said.
Talking about the prospects for the sugar industry this year, he said globalsugar prices have increased significantly compared to a year ago, which is apositive signal.-VNA
VNA
