Denmark offers support for pig farming

Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark Ulla Tørnæs (L) visits Ngoc Ha market in Hanoi last week - PHOTO: TD

HANOI – Denmark, which is well known for its productive and high-quality pig farming, has offered help for Vietnam to develop a safe and traceable pig farming and processing sector.

Last week Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark Ulla Tørnæs visited Ngoc Ha market in Hanoi and witnessed the way fresh pork is bought and sold at the market. This is a traditional pork trading practice in Vietnam, so it is a challenge for Vietnam to ensure food safety and especially the traceability of pork’s origin, she said.

In case of food poisoning, the traceability of pork’s origin is an important factor as it lets people know where the product comes from and how it is processed, said Tørnæs.

Tørnæs also visited the processing chain of Dabaco Group, one of Vietnam’s largest livestock companies. The group has 60 subsidiaries and 10% of them are active in high-tech agriculture.

Chairman of Dabaco Nguyen Nhu So said Dabaco plans to build a modern slaughterhouse meeting international standards. Bac Ninh Province has allowed land for the project and Dabaco expects to get technical, technological and financial support from Denmark, he added.

According to Tørnæs, Denmark has the world’s best food safety management system and expects to cooperate with Vietnam to develop a safe and traceable pig farming and processing chain.

In terms of financial support, Tørnæs said as Vietnam has become a lower middle-income economy, Denmark considered Vietnam a strategic partner in some fields such as food safety.

In her April 4-5 visit to Vietnam, Minister Tørnæs worked with the Vietnamese side to promote cooperation between the two countries, especially in four areas: education (vocational training), food safety (pork production), environment (businesses’ compliance) and health care (non-communicable diseases).

Since 1994, Denmark has provided Vietnam with over US$1.3 billion in grants, contributing significantly to Vietnamese development.