Vietnam’s animal husbandry industry must change in order to survive and develop sustainably, heard at a conference held by General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development in association with the Husbandry Department in Ho Chi Minh City on June 22.
At the conference, the Government Office’s representative emphasized that Vietnam will integrate deeply into global economy for that the country will sign 20 free trade agreements by 2020 and all of tariffs will be reduced to zero percent by 2025. Therefore, the country’s animal husbandry industry must be restructured in order to survive and develop.
Earlier, Husbandry Department reassured breeders and businesses that when the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TTP) and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) take effect, the future of domestic husbandry will not be too gloomy. However, local businesses and even foreign-invested ones still showed pessimism.
Mr. Ho Xuan Hung, chairman of General Association of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that when Vietnam joins the TTP and AEC, local animal husbandry industry will hurt most as it will face direct and cutthroat competition. However, it still has some advantages as people still prefer fresh meat to frozen one. So, if local animal husbandry industry uses this advantage to build technical barrier, its future will not be so gloomy.
The general association proposed the Government to step up information about free trade agreements, and check proceedings and market transparency, and anti-dumping. However, in order to develop animal husbandry industry sustainably, it is important to improve science and technology and reorganize production.