Brazilian giants JBS and FS seek deeper ties with Vietnam

THE HANOI TIMES — JBS wants to position Vietnam as its regional and global hub for production and distribution, company representative Fabio Maia de Oliveira told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during a July 6 meeting in Brazil.

JBS is a food processing company with offices in 24 countries and territories. The company has established two subsidiaries in Vietnam with a focus on frozen food distribution and leather production. JBS has already exported its first shipment of beef to Vietnam and plans to expand its investment in the country.

Oliveira said that JBS is ready to leverage Vietnam as its central hub for agricultural and food production and distribution in regional and global markets.

In November 2024, Vietnam and Brazil elevated their ties to a Strategic Partnership. Building on this foundation, Prime Minister Chinh encouraged Brazilian companies, including JBS, to continue expanding their business and investment activities in Vietnam.

The prime minister noted that Vietnam, with its population of over 100 million and growing middle class, offers significant market potential. He added that Vietnam is well-positioned to serve as JBS’s gateway into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Northeast Asia, including China.

Chinh proposed that JBS collaborate more closely with domestic partners to bring its products to Vietnamese and regional consumers. He also encouraged the company to promote Vietnamese agricultural products in Brazil and throughout its global distribution network.

“This would maximize the benefits of Vietnam’s 17 free trade agreements with over 60 major economies,” he continued.

Vietnam is currently accelerating negotiations toward a free trade agreement with Brazil and the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR). The prime minister invited JBS to support this process, which would pave the way for more effective operations and expanded collaboration with Vietnamese partners, including in areas such as capacity building and technology transfer.

On the same day, Prime Minister Chinh met with Daniel Lopes, Vice President of FS, who proposed a strategic partnership with Vietnam in the field of biofuels. FS is a pioneering Brazilian company that specializes in producing ethanol from corn, and it is a low-carbon biofuel producer in Latin America.

The prime minister welcomed the initiative and FS’s willingness to cooperate. He noted that Vietnam is implementing its energy transition strategy and aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Developing sustainable energy solutions for the transportation sector is essential to achieving this goal.

Chinh instructed relevant Vietnamese agencies to explore establishing a government-to-government cooperation mechanism on biofuels. He also asked FS to collaborate with Vietnamese ministries and localities to share its expertise in biofuel production.

He further called on FS to increase its investments, trade, and business activities in Vietnam. He suggested collaborating deeply with Vietnamese enterprises, especially the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN), to facilitate technology transfer, integration into the global biofuel value chain, and improved access to competitively priced E10 fuel.

He also proposed that FS consider investing in ethanol production facilities in Vietnam or collaborating with PVN to develop such projects in Vietnam or Brazil.

In addition, the prime minister met with William Shuhei Fujikura, Director of Granja Fujikura, a high-tech Brazilian agricultural enterprise with Japanese roots.

Fujikura said that his company surveyed the Vietnamese market this year and is working with Trong Khoi Company to develop quail farming in Vietnam and other Asian markets. He expressed hope that the Vietnamese Government and relevant agencies would facilitate effective cooperation in large-scale, high-tech agricultural development.

Brazil is Vietnam's largest trading partner in Latin America and the second largest in the Americas. In 2024, bilateral trade reached nearly $8 billion, up 12.2% from the previous year and accounting for over 34% of Vietnam’s total trade with Latin America. In the first five months of 2025, two-way trade amounted to $3.33 billion. Both countries have expressed a strong commitment to increasing bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2030.