Demand for top meat drives funding Demand for top meat drives funding In the midst of the rising demand for quality pork, Vietnam has witnessed growing investment in the clean meat market. Last week, AVG Capital Partners, a private equity fund from Russia, signed an MoU with Thanh Hoa People’s Committee to develop a $1.4 billion pork processing complex in Nghi Son Economic Zone. With an area of 1,000 hectares, the complex has a designed capacity to produce five million hogs a year. It will boast 43 commercial pig farms and three hybrid pig farms, a mixed feed factory with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, as well as a slaughterhouse and processing plant with a capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year. Phong Quach, head of business development at Ipsos Strategy3 in Vietnam, said that as a general principle, any high-tech investment in agriculture is good for Vietnam. This is because the Vietnamese agricultural sector is still trying to attract more technology that can provide higher output for both the domestic and export markets. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has identified in its objectives for 2030 that it wants to strive for high-value added agricultural outputs rather than volume. Quach added, “When we take a closer look at different points in the value chain and investments, there are different dynamics in the competition depending on the node we review. The latest investment from AVG Capital Partners is a feed-farm-food (3F) investment encompassing the entire production chain. However, the output capacity of the processing facility is much higher than its supply, with 600,000 tonnes of processed meat against five million hogs a year.” This would suggest that there is still significant opportunity for Vietnamese farms to supply this facility. If AVG Capital Partners is looking to source hogs from Vietnamese farms, this would be a vote of confidence for local farming while epidemics still wreak havoc in the global …
Dreams for the future examples
Putting innovation at forefront of progress
Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung Vietnam has just accomplished the 5-year Socioeconomic Development Plan for the 2016-2020 period, as well as overcome the past 12 months with a lot of difficulties due to trade tensions among big economies, the depression of the world economy, and fighting against the pandemic and natural disasters. However, 2020 can still be considered much more successful than 2019 in Vietnam, and even the most successful out of the five years of the mid-term plan, as numerous achievements were attained. In 2021 there will continue to be challenges worldwide and locally. COVID-19 has yet to be controlled in many places, and no vaccine can completely eradicate the coronavirus. Trade wars could still intensify. And numerous countries are facing budget deficits and high public debt, which can contain a lot of risks related to financial crisis. The position and power of our country has improved much, but we are still facing the middle-income trap, while competitiveness is not very high, especially in some key areas for future development. Some social troubles will impact development, such as population ageing, the rich-poor and development-level gap, exploitation and use of natural resources, and climate change. Fresh mindset However, we can still grasp onto strong prospects even in difficult times. Over a dozen new-generation free trade agreements have been signed and taken effect, Industry 4.0 is evolving, trade and investment are relocating, and Vietnam’s golden population period will remain for the next 10 years. This is a chance for Vietnam to upsurge thanks to the restructuring of global supply chains and the adjustment of the world order. So if we want to go fast, we must choose the right way. This is a good moment for Vietnam to restructure the economy, embrace digital transformation, and change development models towards fast, sustainable, and inclusive growth. We will not stand beside, or behind, others …
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Modern Vietnamese farmers: wear suits, sit in Hanoi and feed fowl in Dak Lak
Many Vietnamese farmers just need to press a button to grow vegetables and raise pigs, and click a mouse to sell vegetables in the global market. Pham Van Chu, the owner of a pig and fowl farm in Ea Nam commune in Dak Lak The images of farmers carrying water with a shoulder pole or bending down to put manure on crops have disappeared. Now, farmers just need a smartphone to deal with heavy field work, said Pham Van Chu, the owner of a pig and fowl farm in Ea Nam commune in Dak Lak. Chu, in a suit and polished shoes, showed his smartphone with images of his farm as he sat in Hanoi controlling his farm in Dak Lak. “With the camera system and remote control system, I can set the temperature and feeding regime of the farm. I can take care of my pigs and fowls thousands of kilometers away,” he said. Previously, Chu ran his farm the traditional way and used a high number of laborers. He has been applying high technology in farming in the last two years and gained excellent results. The entire farm, covering 6,000 square meters, is equipped with cameras. One chip is attached to every water trough. When the water runs out, the chip will alert him and he just needs to conduct some operations on his system to make the troughs full of water again. Previously, to control the temperature, he had to install thermometers at the farm and regularly enter the farm to check the temperature. But this work is now conducted automatically. He checks the temperature with his smartphone. Chu now uses six workers only, but the farming results are very good. In 2020, he collected VND20 billion from pig and fowl farming alone and made a profit of VND4 billion. He also earned money from tens of thousands of square meters of orchards and fish ponds. The entire 10 hectare farm of Nguyen Dong Hai, director of VietFarm Co Ltd in Da Lat, is run in accordance with GlobalGAP standards, using high technology. When sowing seeds, he installs a chip that helps control moisture and …
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