According to the association’s reportat a conference on the dairy industry held on the sidelines of the on-going VietnamInternational Milk and Dairy Products Exhibition, per capita milkconsumption went up from 15 litres per person in 2010 to 27litres last year.
The association’s chairman Tran QuangTrung said in anticipation of free trade agreements, local dairy firms have inthe past five years invested boldly in their dairy farms and cattle andimported advanced technology for their plants.
According to Trung, local firms can nowmanage their entire chain from raw materials to the final products by usingadvanced technology.
He said the industry is seeing theappearance of many new milk processing plants equipped with advancedtechnologies that can compete with the global milk industry.
They have also invested in producingorganic and seed milk and speciality products for different groups ofconsumers, hoping to capitalize on market demand, Trung said.
He said thanks to improving quality, Vietnamexported milk and dairy products worth 250-300 million USD a year to 43countries and territories, including the US, France, Canada, Poland, the MiddleEast and Southeast Asia. Procedures have also been completed to export to Chinastarting this year, he said.
There had also been a decrease in milkand dairy imports in recent years due to the increase in domestic production.
But the association admittedsince domestic production only met 40 percent of demand, the importswould continue.
At another seminar also held on thesidelines of the exhibition, Nguyen Thuy Duong from the Ministry of Industryand Trade said free trade agreements had opened up opportunities for dairyfirms to enhance their market share both at home and abroad.
But they would continue to facechallenges and this required them to diversify their products, develop newones, including special nutritional products, and improve quality andpackaging, she said.
The Vietnam International Milk andDairy Products Exhibition will open until June 2.-VNA