Denmark extends agri-food expertise to Vietnam

A delegation of 13 leading Danish agri-food firms in Solutions for Livestock & Food Production, Food Processing Technologies, Ingredients, and Climate Control Solutions is giving expertise to Vietnamese partners 

Representatives of Danish companies attend the seminar held in Hanoi on August 17. Photos: Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi

The delegation, which works in areas important for improving agri-food production towards high efficiency, green, and sustainability, expects to share experiences and introduce world-leading and well-proven Danish solutions in agri-food production and look for opportunities to cooperate with Vietnamese companies during the Seminar – Business Matchmaking held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on August 16-19.

The events are part of a joint effort between the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, and the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration to revitalize the long-term cooperation between the two countries in the agri-food sector after almost two years interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Troels Jakobsen, Trade Counsellor of the Embassy of Denmark said: “Danish companies and experts are very willing to share innovative ideas and technologies with their Vietnamese counterparts as well as look for opportunities to cooperate and make good and sustainable business together.”

He stated that the Danish agrifood industry for many years has continuously invested in new production equipment and solutions that boost production yield and improve product quality but at the same time consume less water and energy. “Nowadays, we produce three times more food than the Danish population can consume, with some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions in Europe,” he noted.

The seminars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will provide a forum to connect and facilitate the exchange of experiences, knowledge, and technologies between local decision-makers, sector managers as well as Danish and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. Following the seminars will be the business-to-business (B2B) meeting program between Vietnamese companies and the Danish business delegation.

“The Vietnam – Denmark cooperation program in agriculture and food has an important impact on the development of Vietnam’s agricultural sector. Vietnamese sector agencies and companies can apply the experiences and knowledge they learned from their Danish partners,” Phung Duc Tien, Vice Minister of MARD, said at the event in Hanoi on August 17.

He said this is important in the context when Vietnam’s agricultural sector has been striving to develop value chain and sustainable production towards a smart and high-tech industry.

The Danish Agri-Food delegation is part of long-term cooperation between Denmark and Vietnam to support Vietnam’s efforts to transform the agriculture and food sector towards green and sustainability.

Participants at the event. Photo: Baoquocte

Bring advanced technology to Vietnam

The Danish companies which work in areas important for improving agri-food production towards high efficiency, green, and sustainability, are willing to seek partners and expand their operations in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.  

Hugo Høllede, VP HR & Administration, Mille Food A/S, said the agriculture and food sector of Denmark is famous for world-class food safety, quality, and healthy products. For that reason, Mille Food believes that this is also very important for Vietnamese consumers, Høllede told The Hanoi Times.

“We understand that Vietnam has some challenges to provide sufficient milk products from its own sources. Furthermore, the impressive economic growth in Vietnam, the rising income levels and consumer’s growing desire to try new products and brands bring us hope that the market and consumers will welcome the products produced under the strictest quality control in our factory in Denmark,” Høllede said when joined the Danish business delegation to Vietnam. This is the first visit for Mille Food but he affirmed to be back for the Food & Hotel Vietnam exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City in December this year.

Mille Food is among the 13 Danish firms specializing in Food, Food Technology, and Ingredients (FOSS Vietnam Co., Ltd, KMC A.M.B.A, Novozymes A/S, Simatek A/S), Climate Control Solutions (CT-Technologies A/S, Titan Containers A/S, SKOV A/S), and Solutions in Livestock Production (Aco Funki A/S, Breeders of Denmark, Cloudfarms A/S, Danbred A/S, Viking Genetics FMBA), seeking to work in Vietnam to tap the potential of the 100-million market.  

Sharing the same expectations on Vietnam, TITAN Containers is delighted to be in the Southeast Asian country to investigate many good opportunities with local businesses.

In a talk with The Hanoi Times, Henrik Norgaard, Country Manager, Denmark, TITAN Containers, said the company, which focuses on supplying temperature-controlled storage solutions for all types of produce and purposes, very much looks forward to developing its business interests here and to benefitting local business interests in Vietnam.

“Irrespective of fresh or frozen food products, in warm climates reliable and accurate refrigerated storage throughout the cold chain is essential to maintain product quality and best market values. There are many other commercial segments that need refrigerated storage including pharmaceuticals as well as Bio and Life Science interests,” he said, adding that as TITAN Containers operates globally, its mobile solutions are easily delivered to where required and our flexible and competitive rental services seem to find favor in many countries.

Meanwhile, Cloudfarms has been present in this market and chosen by some local pig producers for digitalization of their farms. From that experience, Cloudfarms recognizes that the Vietnamese pork industry is very serious and dedicated to adopting best practice technologies and transforming them into one of the most modern pork industries from a worldwide perspective.

“At Cloudfarms, we highly appreciate supporting the Vietnamese success story and we are currently working on establishing a local presence in Vietnam including customer support,” Bogdan Samoylenko, Key Business Developer for Asia, Cloudfarms shared with The Hanoi Times.

Sanne Høj Andrén, Sector Counsellor for Agri-Food, the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam, said the new global issues like climate change have been catalysts for the cooperation between Denmark and Vietnam. Accordingly, Denmark can share its experiences in agriculture developed over the years that will help not only Vietnamese customers but businesses have opportunities to export their products to high-quality markets like Europe.   

Sanne Høj Andrén, Sector Counsellor for Agri-Food, the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam. Photo: Bao Xay Dung