Enhancing Export Competitiveness of Vietnam Agriculture through Technology and Innovation

This is the theme of a recent seminar organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in an effort to support businesses in enhancing the added value of Vietnamese agricultural products.

Delivering a keynote speech to the workshop, VCCI General Secretary Tran Thi Lan Anh, Director of the Project on “Enhancing the Export Competitiveness of Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises in Spice, Fruit, and Vegetable Sub-Sectors (SFV-Export) under VCCI, highlighted the significant contribution of agricultural and aquatic exports to Vietnam’s economic development. 

Currently, Vietnam has more than 10 agricultural products exceeding US$1 billion in annual export value, such as vegetables, rice, coffee, cashew nuts, pepper and wooden furniture. These products reach 200 markets across the globe, including high-standard ones like the U.S., the EU and Japan. The EU is a potential market for many Vietnamese key agricultural exports, especially after the signing of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
However, Vietnam’s agricultural sector still faces many challenges, such as small-scale production, limited linkages in the value chain, and low levels of scientific and technological application. Most of the exports are raw or semi-processed products, due to the lack of advanced processing and preservation technologies or the inability to meet the requirements, regulations and standards of the importing markets.

To enhance the export capacity of Vietnam’s agricultural sector, VCCI General Secretary Anh suggested some consistent solutions to support chain development, such as assisting agricultural companies to apply science, technology, innovation and digitalization in agricultural production and processing to ensure product quality standards; implementing origin traceability and brand building to increase added value and competitiveness for exported agricultural products and meet increasingly strict standards of the world market.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hoi, General Director of the Vietnam Institute of Strategy and Policy for Industry and Trade (VIOIT), also recommended some solutions to boost agricultural exports: Promoting technological research, application and innovation in production management to improve productivity, quality, and competitiveness of exported agricultural products, with a focus on new 4.0 technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, big data, IoT, 3D printing and new materials).

By B.H, Vietnam Business Forum