HCMCity (VNA) – TheVietnam Foodexpo 2018, the biggest of its kind serving the agro-fishery andfood industry in Vietnam, kicked off in Ho Chi Minh City on November 14.

Hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the expo features 600 booths operatedby 450 enterprises from 31 Vietnamese localities and 23 counties andterritories around the world.

Exhibitors are introducing fruit-based products,beverages, food materials, processed foods, and food processing machines.

Vietnam Foodexpo 2018 has attracted the participation of many notable nationaland international brands in the food industry, such as Phu Thinh Food, SaGiang, Ben Tre Coconut, Satra, Vissan, Thien Huong Food, and PAN Group.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do ThangHai highlighted the strong development of Vietnam’s food industry over the lasttwo decades, saying that it has recorded great changes in production, business,and exports.

Many Vietnamese products have gradually shifted from raw exports to deepprocessing, while their brands have also been developed, thus conquering manyexport markets in the world, he said.

VietnamFoodexpo 2018 is an international trade promotion event for the local foodindustry, with agricultural and seafood products in particular, and is thelargest of its kind in the country, Hai noted.

Theorganisation board has focused on arranging many practical activities to sharethe trend of production, business, and global market, towards helpingbusinesses orient their activities to meet consumer demands, he added.

Hai said the ministry highly appreciates exhibitors of foreign countries like theNetherlands and Italy for their active participation in the event, and expects theseunits will bring attractive products as one of the expo’s highlights.

The event  also welcomes a great numberof visitors, especially those from Vietnam’s key export markets such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, China, the US,France, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Thailand.

Elsbeth Akkerman, the Netherlands’ Ambassador to Vietnam said experts from herrespective nation’s Food andConsumer Product Safety Authority will share their experience in applyinginformation technology in agro-food trade, in developing and improving foodsupply chains, and in managing food safety.

During the four-day event, therewill also be the Vietnam Food Forum 2018, a seminar promoting investment in thefood processing industry, and an international cooking event, among others.

The expo will open for commercial guests duringthe first three days and for all visitors on the final day. –VNA