Difficulties in accessing science, technology and support capital

The desire to take off - the ambition to soar high

Over the past few years Vietnam’s agriculture has attained many achievements, notably the record export turnover of USD 48.6 billion in 2021. But experts predict that it will be difficult for the agriculture sector to develop comprehensively in the next fifteen years if Vietnam does not have more actions to further invest, promote and improve in terms of increasing added value for agro-products.

"Vietnam is a tropical country blessed with diverse agro-products. If we do not invest strongly in processing, it will be difficult to make full use of that advantage when exporting agricultural products to the world," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Agro Processing and Market Development Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Reality shows that the institutions, mechanisms and policies to support the processing industry have been established at a certain level. However, it takes more than the coordination of parties involved in order to directly challenge the issues in practice.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan said that what needs to be done is to further diversify approaches to funding support so that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can take off on their own in the processing industry. Their processed products need more aid in terms of resources, technology, and market.

“Agricultural by-products and circular economy in processing are fiscal spaces full of potential but seem to receive insufficient attention from institutions. This is a key factor, playing a very important role in the processing industry from now to 2030 so that the content of support policies can be constructed,” said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan.

Difficulties in accessing science, technology and support capital

At a recent webinar on formulating policies to develop the field of agro-product preservation and processing for centralized processing clusters and SMEs, many delegates expressed their concerns as small and medium-sized processing enterprises find it difficult to gain access to scientific and technological support as well as capital support.

Ms. Tran Thi Thu Trang, Chairman of Hanel Production and Import-Export Joint Stock Company, said that the current situation calls for general support policies to help enterprises renovate technologies in service of export; policies to support concentrated processing zones; policies for consultation support. The aim is to ensure that businesses can improve their competitiveness and enhance investment advantages from input to output.

As stated by Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Lien, representative of the Association of Food Transparency (AFT), there is an ample number of small and medium-sized enterprises, even micro-enterprises in the processing field. It is thus essential to have policies that can support and guide them to build a methodical foundation then enthusiastically participate in the processing chain.

“For agriculture to truly become a commodity-producing industry, the processing industry and the preservation industry are key. A major barrier at present is that the land policy has not yet supported the formation of large raw material areas," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Lien.

The global agricultural product preservation industry is following three trends at the moment: Focus on safe by-products, bio-products, and environmental-friendly chemicals; Develop safe maneuver technologies and techniques in the direction of friendly physics or chemistry; Apply packaging specification and smart packaging technology.

But in the case of Vietnam, the agro-product preservation and processing chains are broken right from the raw material area network. The logistics system still lacks investment from businesses right from the production stage.

Dr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of theVietnam Institute Of Agricultural Engineering And Post-Harvest Techbnology (VIAEP - MARD), believes that the most important factors Vietnam’s processing industry should aim for are to ensure stable quality and build a prestigious brand name for agro-products even if the production chain is operated in a small scale.

“The processing industry holds tremendous potential. The fields of mechanization, processing and post-harvest preservation have set out an ultimate goal in the near future: By 2030 Vietnam will stand among the top ten global deep processing hubs. But it will be difficult to achieve this goal if the programs, solutions, and mechanisms in policies are not implemented synchronously from this point onward,” said Dr. Pham Anh Tuan.