HCM City (VNA) - The Vietnamese Swiftlet Farming Association under theVietnam Farms and Agricultural Enterprises Association has made its debut inHCM City’s Can Gio district.

Le Duy Minh, Chairman of the Vietnam Farms and Agricultural EnterprisesAssociation, said that the association was established for thepurpose of linking the State, scientists, entrepreneurs and farmers in theswift-breeding industry, supporting swift breeders to sell their products atreasonable prices, and building a brand for Vietnamese bird nests for bothdomestic and export markets.

The association will work to ensure products supplied by members of theassociation will have consistent quality and clear origin to protect consumers,he said.

Le Van Lanh, owner of a swift breeding establishment in the central coastalprovince of Khanh Hoa, said swift nests are high in protein, low in fat andcontain various amino acids essential to the human body and other beneficialsubstances.

Swifts usually build their nests in deep caves on islands or along steepcliffs. In the past, people used their nests only to serve the king and noblefamilies.

The swift-breeding industry has developed quickly in many places such asIndonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and Hong Kong, withIndonesia producing about 100 tonnes of nests annually and Thailand andMalaysia about 60-70 tonnes a year.

In Vietnam, high profits have lured many investors to invest in breeding thebirds indoors in recent years, they said.

Le Huu Hoang, Chairman of Khanh Hoa Bird Nest Company, said more than 5,000houses have been built for breeding the birds in 36 provinces and cities,almost doubling from three years ago.

Breeding the birds has also developed strongly in HCM City thanks to favourableweather, according to the HCM City Department of Agriculture and Ruraldevelopment.

The city has 542 swift houses in 19 districts, of which 231 are in Can Gio district,providing a total output of more than six tonnes a year.

Currently, raw bird nest is priced at 20-30 million VND (880-1,322 USD) perkilo, while a kilo of refined bird nest is at 40-45 million VND, and even 100-200million VND for some special types.

Vietnamese bird nest is evaluated to have higher quality compared to that fromsome other countries, according to an expert who did not want to be named.

Some bird nest products available in the market have poor quality, he said,adding that some traders even import bird nest from other countries and sellthem under the Vietnamese bird nest brand.

Therefore, the establishment of the Vietnamese Swiftlet Farming Associationwill enable members to supervise and commit to provide guaranteed quality,avoid trade fraud and increase the value of Vietnamese bird nest, he said.

According to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, azoning plan for swift breeding in the city has been submitted to the People’sCommittee, and it will be published in the coming time to ensure thesustainable development of the industry.-VNA