Series of agricultural expositions open in Ho Chi Minh City

A series of agricultural exhibitions including Agritech Vietnam 2019, Farm & Food Tech 2019, and Vietnam Farm & Food Expo 2019 kicked off in HCM city on June 19 with over 100 local and domestic businesses in attendance.

Photo: Sai Gon Giai Phong Online

Featuring more than 200 pavilions, the event was held jointly by the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade and the HCM City Business Association at the Phu Tho indoor sports stadium in District 11.

On display at Farm & Food Tech 2019 are a wide range of cutting-edge post-harvest machinery and technologies, equipment and technologies that are capable of checking food safety and the origin of products, food processing equipment, food packaging machinery, hi-tech farm produce, bio-technology products, and clean food products.

The Vietnam International Agricultural Machinery, Equipment, Technology and Supplies Exhibition (Agritech Vietnam) provides a venue for businesses to strengthen connectivity in terms of investment, the transfer of technology, and production line towards building a modern agricultural industry that looks towards sustainable development.

Elsewhere, the Farm & Food Expo 2019 showcases the advantages of Vietnamese farm produce, whilst aiming to seek ways to promote the export of farm produce to major markets and expand into new territories.

Nguyen Phuong Dong, Deputy Director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, said the country’s export turnover of farm produce exceeded US$40.2 billion last year, leaving it rank 15th in the world.

He noted that Vietnamese farm produce is currently exported to more than 180 nations and territories across the globe.

Aside from traditional markets, Vietnamese farm produce has expanded to new markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, and China. A series of farm produce such as chicken, star apples, rambutans, and passion fruit have gained entry into demanding markets including Japan, the United States, New Zealand, and the EU respectively.

With a number of new-generation Free Trade Agreements coming into force this year such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Vietnamese farm produce currently enjoys a wealth of opportunities to make inroads into foreign markets.

The new markets available for Vietnamese farm produce to enter could significantly contribute to fulfilling the export target of US$43 billion set for 2019.

Mr Dong underlined the importance of market development, overall improvements in product quality, the use of science and technology in production, and developing eye-catching brands for products.

The series of expos are set to run until June 22.