Agriculture is historically an important economic sector of Viet Nam, contributing 13.97 per cent of the country's GDP in 2021. The sector's solid development has increased agricultural demand for machinery and equipment. Both foreign and domestic players are active in the agricultural machinery market.

Clodagh Cavanagh - Managing Director of Abbey Machinery, one of Ireland's largest and most respected agricultural equipment manufacturers, shared the company's plan to take advantage of opportunities available in the agriculture machinery and equipment market in Viet Nam.

Can you brief your company's business operation and presence in Viet Nam?

Abbey Machinery was established in 1947 and has a strong agricultural engineering tradition for over 75 years. Abbey has a respected track record of delivering premium quality machines suitable for farmers and commercial users. The product range promotes on-farm efficiency and expands into industrial applications.

Abbey is located in a new purpose-built 100,000 sq. ft manufacturing facility on a 30-acre site. The site is combined with a dedicated research & development facility outside Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland.

Abbey's mission and foundation for success is to provide customers with high quality machines matching their expectations. This is paired with an emphasis on customer experience and feedback.

A team of over 100 employees specialising in engineering, manufacturing, innovation, sales and logistics contribute to the shared expertise on offer from Abbey Machinery. Together, Abbey team members collaborate their diverse experience with industry-leading technologies to develop innovative, efficient, and sustainable machines for our customers globally.

At Abbey, we specialise in supplying agriculture machinery solutions based on the 'Total Cow' concept. We offer machines catering from the front to the rear of the cow. This includes precision diet feeders at the front end. Our digitally advanced technology TMR Diet Feeders, allows for accurate, managed, and efficient feeding of the dairy herd.

At the back end of the cow, we specialise in the growing trend of environmentally friendly slurry spreading systems. We offer a range of slurry tankers with capacities of between 5400 litres & 22,700 litres in single, tandem & tri-axle wheeled machines, all with a range of pumping systems to suit all applications. Our extensive range of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) include bandspreaders, trailing shoes & disc injectors with operating widths up to 12 metres. This is matched with high output agitation pumps, spreaders, and grassland toppers. Our solutions enhance the environmental benefits of efficient nutrient usage with low emission slurry spreading applicators. These can be further complemented by adding ISOBUS, NIR, flow control & mapping from our range of optional extras available.

Abbey works with a global team of distributors and agriculture machinery dealers, providing uniform support and service for customers worldwide.

Abbey Machinery entered the Vietnamese market in 2019, supplying agricultural machinery to multi-level dairy cooperatives. Our machinery provides the Vietnamese market with sustainable solutions to manage TMR feeding and efficient slurry solutions. Abbey Machinery is fully committed to supporting growth in the Vietnamese market through custom solution development to best meet the region's needs. Abbey is fully invested in growing our presence to support the market and hopes to meet customers directly as markets begin to open again.

How do you assess the potential of the Vietnamese market in agricultural machinery and equipment?

Abbey utilises market research and support from our partnership with Enterprise Ireland, which facilitates customer introductions and local market knowledge. As with other global markets, there is a growing demand for fresh dairy products. We have noted the Vietnamese market is no exception, with expected year-on-year growth rates.

With every increase in the market, higher efficiency and output growth becomes a requirement for both producers and farms alike. The medium-sized to the larger producer can achieve this with an increasing emphasis on using efficient and sustainable agricultural machinery.

Currently, Viet Nam must import nearly 70 per cent of agricultural machinery and equipment, mostly from China, Japan and South Korea? What will your company do to tap this lucrative market?

Abbey Machinery brings an enhanced Irish and European insight into the efficient use of Abbey agricultural machinery. This is based on experience from one of the world's more complex and demanding agricultural environments. Innovative products have been designed, proven and tested by Abbey. We carefully nurture our customers' experience and feedback to assist us in developing the next most progressive piece of agricultural machinery.

Abbey is not content to offer solutions that only work for you, the customer. It is important to Abbey and our customers that an agricultural machine provides value through its benefits.

Which competitive advantages of your company's agricultural machinery and equipment compared to the mentioned-above countries?

At Abbey Machinery, our mission is to focus on embracing sustainability and technological advancements to generate valuable applications for our customers in the Agri-sector and industrial settings.

We aim to sustainably produce machines for our customers in an agile and efficient environment through measurement and digitalisation.

Abbey Machinery's facility integrates sustainability and digital innovations into all aspects of machine manufacturing. We have introduced robotic welding, pulse welders, CNC fibre laser technology and plasma CNC machines into the production process, resulting in a consistent, high-quality product.

Our factory’s sustainability initiatives have reduced carbon footprint and increased energy efficiencies at Abbey. In excess of sixty per cent of the electricity used at Abbey Machinery is sourced from renewable energy.

Abbey is investing in a 250-kilowatt solar energy system to further reduce dependency on the electricity grid further. Abbey is also installing new, energy-efficient machines, including a new fibre laser machine replacing a CO2 laser machine with a significantly more energy-efficient process.

Abbey customers can be confident that the manufacturing process of Abbey machines is continually and consistently advancing to reduce carbon footprint and improve the sustainability of the final product.

Viet Nam has been encouraging the development of Agriculture 4.0. What do you think about the role of advanced agricultural machinery and equipment in the country?

The development of Agriculture 4.0 agriculture in Viet Nam signals the end of exclusive dependence on water, artificial fertilisers, and pesticides. Instead, farmers will use the smallest amounts necessary while accessing data, GPS technology and moisture sensors to break down traditional challenges to crop selection, market access, and innovation.

These advanced devices and precision agriculture systems will allow farms to be more profitable, efficient, safe and environmentally friendly. There needs to be a joint effort from governments, investors, and innovative agricultural technologies for these needs to be met.

While Vietnam has not been traditionally known as a dairy farming country, with the right technical knowledge in areas such as cattle digestion, feed management, forage production and storage, along with access to suitably sized machinery to suit their bespoke needs, there is plenty of room for the industry to flourish. — VNS