Bringing international expertise to satisfy local needs

16-04-2012 | Home | Article

Animal protein production is steadily on the increase in Vietnam. Good reason for professionals in this business to meet at a trade show, such as Ildex Vietnam last March in Ho Chi Minh City. A regional event with a touch of international flavour.

By Ad Bal

It doesn’t need much explanation that Vietnam has had a turbulent history from the fifties to seventies of the past century. But the country picked itself up in the past decades and seems to be well on the road ahead.

It has a relatively young population of around 80 million and prosperity seems on the increase. As a result, there is strong focus on food production and for this reason the Ildex Vietnam trade show was started in 2006. The show aims to provide a platform for the growing animal protein business.

This years’ edition of Ildex Vietnam was held last March in the New Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City, a meeting place for producers and suppliers. Organised by VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific, it was the fourth edition of this biennial show. Primarily it is a regional event for business professionals in the southern part of Vietnam. But it also attracted some interest from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Altogether over 9,000 visitors came to the Ildex show, where they could meet with some 180 exhibiting companies, an overall increase compared the previous show.

More livestock

Apart from poultry, also pig and dairy production, as well as aquaculture, are important fields of interest at Ildex. Particularly pork production plays a major role in Vietnam, but poultry is on the increase.

According to the deputy minister of agriculture in his opening address to the show, currently the share of livestock production in Vietnam within the agricultural sector is about 27%. The objective is to achieve a 40% share in 2020 through a comprehensive set of government supported measures.

The increase in animal feed production over the past years reflects the increase in animal production. Currently, there are 240 animal feed plants in Vietnam, with a combined annual capacity of around 10 million tonnes of feed. In the first half of 2010, these plants together produced 4.9 million tonnes of animal feed.

The commercial feed market has been growing strongly, enjoying a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 16% between 2005 and 2009, and continued strong growth is expected in the coming years. Due to this increase, the demand for raw materials surpassed supply. By 2020, Vietnam is expected to need around 15 million tonnes of animal feed to meet domestic demand.

Logical theme
This increased demand for animal feed goes hand in hand with an increased demand in technology for animal husbandry. This meets with the objectives of Ildex shows to support such growth strategies. “Bringing international expertise to satisfy local needs”, therefore was the logical theme of this years show. The exhibitors represented about 28 countries, of which there were strong delegations from France, China and the Netherlands. Concurrently with the show, a seminar programme was held.

MORE INFORMATION

www.ildex.com

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