Illustrative image (Photo: sggp.org.vn)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam exported 166 million USDworth of processed agricultural products in the first quarter of 2020, up 33percent year-on-year, statistics reveal.
Rosy signs for processing industry
Dried fruit, especially mango, and passion fruit juicegenerated the largest export value, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)has reported.
The positive growth is down to growing investment in theprocessing industry over recent years, with up to 30 major projects on processingfarm produce, valued at about 1 billion USD, implemented during the 2018-2019period, according to Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruitand Vegetables Association (Vinafruit).
Unlike other sectors, processed fruit and vegetableshave not been overly impacted by COVID-19 because of their convenience and longevity,he added, suggesting that exports of such products be boosted in order to raiserevenue.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD) said the export value of processed agricultural products is rising 7-8percent annually and more than half of processing facilities for majoragricultural exports have been equipped with cutting-edge technologies.
There have been production, preservation, processing,and consumption clusters for agricultural products along with concentratedmaterial areas, contributing to spurring rural economic development, building new-stylerural areas, and generating jobs for farmers.
It is noteworthy that Vietnam has signed severalnew-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) that enable it to expand farmproduce exports, especially processed products.
However, existing processing technologies for only a fewitems like cashew nuts, coffee, rice, shrimp, and tra fish, meet regional andinternational standards, MARD added.
Looking at fastidious markets
Many Vietnamese companies are yet to secure the supplyof materials while linkages in the value chain from production, processing to consumptionhave remained loose.
Nguyen Lam Vien, Chairman of dried fruit producer the VinamitJSC, said a number of businesses have invested in modern processing plants and focusedon brand development.
Developing material areas, however, has remained aheadache, he added, explaining that most agricultural companies do not possess fertileland in favourable geographic locations.
Nguyen from Vinafruit said, however, that the fruitand vegetable processing sector is indeed moving forward, and will be evenbetter placed once the EU-Vietnam FTA (EVFTA) takes effect.
Local firms need to prepare standardised materialareas in response to strict technical barriers in the EU market, he suggested,pointing to competition with neighbouring countries that have invested intechnologies and stepped up the import of Vietnamese agricultural products toserve the export of processed products to the EU.
The State and enterprises therefore need to encouragefarmers to join cooperatives to create large-scale fields and boostmechanisation.
“We can attract investment from the US, Japan, theRepublic of Korea, Australia, and Israel, to promote intensive processingtechnologies,” Nguyen said.
MARD is now completing a draft project on developing thefruit and vegetable processing industry, with Vietnam targeting a place among theworld’s top five countries in the sector.
To that end, Nguyen proposed quickly rolling out solutionssuch as preferential loans for agriculture, duplicating large-scale fields, establishinglinks between businesses and farmers, and building processing plants combined withmaterial areas.
He also stressed the need to promptly complete a marketforecasting and information system so that stakeholders can access information onand the trade policies of major markets./.
VNA
