Dutch businesses have shown interest in Viet Nam’s agriculture sector in general and the vegetable processing industry in particular as the industry has grown well in recent years.

This was said by Dutch Agricultural Counsellor in Viet Nam Arie Veldhuizen at a conference in Ha Noi on Wednesday to connect Vietnamese and Dutch agricultural businesses. The conference was organised by the Netherlands Embassy in Viet Nam and saw the participation of some 150 enterprises from the two countries.

Veldhuizen said Dutch companies, such as De Heus, Friesland Campina and PejaViet Nam, were interested in investing in Vietnamese agriculture.

According to an assessment of the Netherlands Embassy in Viet Nam, the bilateral relationship between Viet Nam and the Netherlands is a win-win situation in which Vietnamese enterprises and farmers can learn about and utilise advanced technology to improve their competitiveness.

The growth in agriculture is not only attributed to the efforts of Vietnamese enterprises but also Viet Nam’s Government, which is showing increasing concern about the development of chain goods and has been investing in modern machinery and technology to increase the value and quality of products, Veldhuizen said.

However, many opinions suggest that the agricultural sector of Viet Nam is still limited in the application of advanced cultivation techniques, and logistics services for harvesting and preserving have gained little interest of local investors. Developing the value chain, on the other hand, needs large investment by enterprises and policy support from the Government.

The Netherlands, for example, is a small country, with a low area of cultivated land and a small population (some 17 million people), but with policies and appropriate steps, it has successfully built a system of sustainable agriculture, the most competitive and effective in the world.

According to Veldhuizen, to develop the agricultural sector towards the value chain, it is important to link businesses together. As businesses of many countries meet, they can explore and exchange new opportunities for co-operation in future. — VNS