The event is jointly organized by the HCMC Investment and Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) and the HCMC Food and Foodstuff Association (FFA), and runs from December 16 to 22.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ms. Ly Kim Chi, Chairwoman of FFA, said that HCMC’s completion of its merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria–Vung Tau represents not merely an administrative boundary adjustment, but the formation of a new growth axis integrating industry, logistics, services, and innovation. Within this framework, the food processing industry continues to be identified as one of the city’s four key industrial sectors, playing a pivotal role in ensuring food security and driving economic growth.
Despite facing multiple challenges in 2025, including rising logistics costs, volatile export markets, and a slow recovery in domestic consumption, Ms. Ly Kim Chi noted that emerging consumption trends, such as green food, health-oriented products, and increasingly stringent requirements for traceability and safety standards, are creating substantial growth opportunities. Businesses, she stressed, must innovate in both mindset and technology to adapt to a rapidly evolving market landscape.
From the perspective of State management, Mr. Tran Phu Lu, Director of ITPC, said the food and foodstuff sector currently accounts for approximately 14–15 percent of HCMC’s total industrial output value. In the first 11 months of 2025, the sector’s industrial production index rose by nearly 9 percent year on year, underscoring the resilience and recovery capacity of local enterprises. The city has issued a development strategy for the food processing industry through 2030, with a vision to 2050, steering the sector toward a modern, green, and sustainable trajectory.
This year, the organizing committee selected 60 outstanding enterprises with products meeting quality standards to showcase and introduce to consumers and distribution partners. The exhibited product range is diverse, encompassing processed foods, beverages, condiments, tea and coffee, confectionery, rice, as well as a wide array of health-oriented products and Tet gift items.
Alongside the exhibition, the program features business matchmaking conferences connecting enterprises with distribution networks and e-commerce platforms, as well as thematic seminars on export opportunities to Middle Eastern and Turkish markets.
According to the organizers, the week’s objectives go beyond promoting product consumption. It also aims to help enterprises better grasp market trends, expand partnerships, and strengthen value chain linkages both domestically and internationally, thereby enhancing the standing of HCMC’s food and foodstuff industry on the regional economic map.
