EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS
INCORPORATING COLD CHAIN
by urging collective action to address the
structural issues behind these numbers.
Nguyen Duc Loc, acting director of
Southern Center of Agriculture Policy
and Strategy (SCAP) / Institute of Policy
and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural
Development (IPSARD), gave the third
keynote address, discussing issues in
development of the agri-cold chain in
modern Vietnam. Loc started with positive
factors related to agriculture in Vietnam,
including recent high growth rates, supply
surplus, and a sharp increase in trade as
the country’s agricultural sector has been
rapidly integrated into the world economy
through the addition of free trade
agreements (now 12 with 56 countries).
He then cited several challenges facing
the sector, including a weakening
of growth and competitiveness (due
to small-scale, scattered production,
negative impacts of climate change,
and strong competition associated
with international integration), low
development of supporting industries (for
example, Vietnam’s food retail network
is very small compared to other Asian
countries), and a multitude of bottlenecks
in the value chain of Vietnamese
agriculture, including high input costs
stemming from overuse of fertilisers and
inefficient use of water, low-quality,
inefficient production due to the small-
scale, scattered nature of the growers,
high transaction costs and high post-
harvest losses, low technology processing,
and low-quality, low-priced exports.
Loc noted that inefficient logistics led to
reduced competitiveness for Vietnamese
products, and that a restructuring plan is
in place to enhance market orientation
(promoting key products of advantage),
reorganise production to increase scale
and promote value chain linkages, and
strongly promote the application of
science and technology within Vietnam’s
agricultural system. Future plans involve
the restructuring of resources and labour
around products and markets aligned with
advantages for Vietnam.
SESSION 2: THE VIETNAM
COLD CHAIN
Eric Prieur of Carrier UTC (second right), interacting with delegates.
20
Dao The Anh, vice-president of the
Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences
(VAAS), kicked off the second session
with an overview of challenges and
www.coldlinkafrica.co.za
opportunities in Vietnam’s cold agricultural
value chain. Anh noted that Vietnam’s
agricultural exports totalled USD36.5-billion
(US) in 2017, up 4% over the prior year. He
pointed out that Vietnam’s agricultural
system is facing several constraints. On the
production side, these constraints include
high chemical input, high resource costs,
and high greenhouse gas emissions, along
with high post-harvest loss percentages
in major food categories, as well as food
safety and quality challenges. On the
export side, constraints include low quality
and low income for farmers, lack of value
chain institutions and farmer organisations,
and poor logistics infrastructure and
servicing. He noted that Vietnam lacks
sufficient cold storage, cold transport,
and logistics communication integration,
and that the high cost of cold storage is a
barrier to adoption.
Regarding the current state of cold
storage in the agri-chain, Anh stated that
the efficiency of existing cold storage
is low. At the same time, investment
costs and energy costs are high, putting
downward pressure on new investment.
Further, private investment in the cold
value chain is not integrated, and cold
chain service providers are lacking. Anh
also suggested that fruit and vegetable
producers remain reluctant to invest in cold
chain technology due to the seasonality
COLD LINK AFRICA • November/December 2018