The seventh international livestock, dairy, meat processing and aquaculture exposition will bring thousands of people to HCM City in March next year.

More than 8,000 trade visitors are expected to participate and interact with 250 international brands from 30 countries. The exposition, Ildex Viet Nam 2018, is organised by Minh Vi Exhibition and Advertisement Services Co., Ltd. (VEAS) in collaboration with VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific Co., Ltd. It will take place on March 14-16.

The event is expected to see an increase in both visitors and exhibitors compared to those of 2016, when there were 7,000 visitors and 202 exhibitors.

The area for the exhibition also grows from 6,000 sq.m. at the previous event to 7,500 sq.m. this time.

The show be divided into areas of focus that include animal breeding and genetics, meat processing, animal equipment, farming, feed milling, animal health, animal feed, feed additives and animal nutrition.

The exhibition will also present five country pavilions representing the Netherlands, France, the US, South Korea and China.

The livestock and aquaculture industry is one of the primary economic sectors of our country. In the first half of 2017, it is expected to contribute 0.43 percentage points to the growth rate of the entire economy, according to the Department of Statistics. Officials at the kick-off conference in Hà Nội yesterday said technology will play an important role in the industry’s future.

“Applying new technologies in breeding and aquaculture not only helps to develop the quality of products but also helps to reduce pollution and saving costs,” said Nguyễn Xuân Dương, deputy director of the Department of Livestock production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. However, application of these technologies still has many limitations and the industry is currently inefficiently developing its potentials.”

“I also believe that through this exhibition, businesses and companies will have opportunities to compare our proficiency with our competitors as well as find new partners for collaboration,” he added. “Business could also get chances to become an import agent or distributor for many international partners,” he added.

Speaking at the conference, Nino Gruettke, managing director of VNU Exhibitions Asia Pacific Co., Ltd said that Viet Nam’s rising population, income levels, changing cultural preferences and new trade agreements had opened the door to significant growth in the meat industry.

“The livestock market in Asia is growing rapidly and this trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future,” the director said. “The important countries in Asia which have the rapid economic growth rate that global investors keep an eye on are the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia and Viet Nam.”

He also noted that the global business trend now was how to integrate livestock and agribusiness together and drive business with IT, automation and Internet systems. Growing populations meanwhile demand agribusiness innovate quickly to keep up with demand.

“This is the important point that all product business have to realise and find the solutions to increase the productivity and feed the world in the limited space,” he said. - VNS