Thuan Phong Agricultural Product Processing Co Ltd yesterday launched a factory to process and freeze fruits and vegetables in Giao Long Commune in Ben Tre Province’s Chau Thanh District.

Covering an area of 6ha in the southern province, the factory has modern machinery and a designed capacity of processing 6,000 to 10,000 tonnes per month.

The first agricultural product that will be processed by the VND500-billion (US$22.4million) factory is Chu sweet mango of the southern Dong Thap Province.

At the opening ceremony, Nguyen Huu Phuoc, deputy chairman of Ben Tre’s people’s committee, welcomed the factory’s establishment, and said it would contribute to fostering the province’s GDP growth and create jobs for 1,000 local workers.

The plant will also help raise the value of the locality’s farm produce and boost consumption of agricultural products of other provinces in the Cuu Long (Mekong Delta) region.

The committee promised to create favourable conditions for the development of the factory so that it could diversify its products, Phuoc said. – VNS