Domestic companies sign deals in livestock industry

Pork is an essential food item and accounts for a large proportion in the structure of food consumption. — Photo vtv.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Vietnamese livestock industry is expected to attract professional producers in the coming years.

Deals between domestic enterprises with strong potential will help the industry compete.

Co-operation and production chains through official contracts between producers, slaughterhouses and retailers are forecast to thrive. 

The livestock sector is striving to achieve a production value of nearly VNĐ9.4 trillion (US$405.2 million) this year, a growth rate of 4.5 per cent compared to last year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the total meat produced was estimated at 5.14 million tonnes last year, down 4.1 per cent.

Pork is an essential food item and accounts for a large proportion in the structure of food consumption. However, pork output decreased by 380,000 tonnes last year, equivalent to 9-10 per cent compared to 2018, which greatly influenced the domestic food market.

Experts believe the development of value chains for livestock products, especially pig breeding, from production to market, with the participation of large domestic enterprises was necessary.

This is key to fast and sustainable development, helping the Vietnamese livestock industry, which was facing a competitive challenge from imported meat in new-generation free trade agreements, said MARD.

Hùng Vương Corporation (HVG) and Thadi Agriculture Farming Processing and Distribution Joint Stock Company, a subsidiary of Trường Hải Auto Corporation (Thaco), signed a strategic agreement in HCM City this month.

Under the agreement, Thadi would buy a 35 per cent stake in HVG.

It will invest VNĐ2 trillion ($86.3 million) to acquire a 65 per cent stake in a Thadi – HVG joint venture to raise breeding pigs in An Giang and Bình Định provinces, which will breed 45,000 piglets this year, with a first batch of 15,000 in March.

Commenting on the co-operation between the two domestic enterprises, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường said it was a good thing that the two companies focused on developing livestock products – a very important component of Vietnamese food security, and together with other economic sectors, continued to focus on integrated agriculture. — VNS