Tuesday, 09/06/2020 16:25 (GMT+7)
In the first quarter of 2020 alone, Vietnam's exports of processed agricultural products reached USD166 million, a year-on-year increase of 33%, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has reported.
Photo: SGGP
This positive growth is the result of many years of investment in the processing industry. According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of Vietnam Vegetables Association (Vinafruit), in the 2018-2019 period, 30 big projects on processing agricultural products were inaugurated using a capital of USD1 billion.
Moreover, processed vegetables were not affected by COVID-19 due to their convenience and long shelf life.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said over 50% of agricultural product processing establishments for export meet advanced production technology standards, thus encouraging the establishment of clusters for production - preservation - processing - consumption of agricultural products in association with concentrated raw material areas.
In particular, Vietnam has been participating in new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs), opening up opportunities to expand export markets for agricultural products, especially processed products. However, Vietnam’s modern agricultural processing technology of regional and international standard is mainly in areas such as cashew nuts, coffee, rice, shrimp and tra fish.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s statistics shows that the total export value of processed agricultural products in the world is up to USD2.2 trillion per year. Dang Phuc Nguyen added that the vegetable processing industry will meet a lot of advantages, especially when the EVFTA takes effect. However, as technical barriers to entry into the EU market are very strict, businesses need to prepare standard material areas.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is completing the draft project on developing the vegetable processing industry for striving to stand among the top 5 countries in the world. Accordingly, the country needs to quickly carry out diverse solutions, including giving preferential loans for the agricultural sector, expanding large farms, building the links between businesses and farmers, and prioritizing the construction of factories in connection with the material planting areas./.
Compiled by BTA