Illustrative image (Source: baodautu.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – A delegation of the USNational Pork Board (NPB) has visited Vietnam recently to seek ways to increasepork export to Vietnam, a large market which consumed around 1.8 million tonnesof pork in 2017, or 57 percent of the total meat market.
The Thoi bao Kinh te Vietnam (Economic Times) quotedGerald Smith, head of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Office of the USConsulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, as saying that Vietnam is one of theUS’s 15 major pork importers globally and the second largest in Southeast Asia.
According to Smith, in the first seven months of2018, the US shipped about 2.4 billion USD worth of agricultural products toVietnam, with pork valued at 12 million USD, up 140 percent year-on-year.
At this growth rate, the country’s pork exportturnover to Vietnam in 2018 would be much higher than that in the previousyear, he said.
Bill Luckey, from the NPB, said the visit aims to scopeout the Vietnamese market as well as demand and taste of local consumers.
US pork exported to Vietnam has, so far this year,doubled in volume and tripled in value as compared with the previous year, hesaid, noting that the US hopes that the business strategy would benefit both sidesso that more US pork will be delivered to the Southeast Asian nation.
Bill Luckey said US farmers aim to meet part ofdemand for US food of local customers, especially amidst the pork shortage andincreased pork price in the country.
US pork price is competitive, he affirmed.
Although the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreementfor Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (formerly known as the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) agreement) failed to sail through the US Government, thecountry’s pig breeders will seek the best ways to supply pork to the Vietnamesemarket, Bill Luckey said.
Gerald Smith underlined the safety of US products, addingthat US farmers have paid attention to pig breeds and applied the mostcutting-edge technologies in order to raise pork output and quality.
During their trip, the NPB delegation carried outpromotional activities at AEON supermarkets in HCM City and the southernprovince of Binh Duong.-VNA
VNA
