Hung Le
Visitors take a look at machines on display at the exhibitions - Photo: Hung Le
There are 470 enterprises from 28 countries and territories displaying their machines and equipment at the International Processing, Filling and Packaging Exhibition and Conference (Propak 2014) and the International Plastics and Rubber Technologies and Materials Exhibition (Plastics & Rubber Vietnam 2014) opened on Tuesday in HCMC.
Justin Pau, general manager of Bangkok Exhibition Services as one of the organizers, said Vietnam’s export is forecast to achieve growth of 20% this year, up from 15.4% recorded last year, which is a good prospect for machine suppliers to boost sales in the market.
Vera Fritsche, Markets and Exhibitions Manager, Packaging Machinery, Food Processing Machinery at the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), said Vietnam’s food, beverage, plastics and rubber industries were developing quickly. Domestic demand for packaged and processed food will continue to rise due to the nation’s young population, changing consumer habits, rising incomes and increasing demand for processed food of high quality, she added.
However, according to Fritsche, production at Vietnamese firms still depends much on imported machines, which is the reason why a delegation of 25 German firms is present at the two exhibitions. Vietnam’s imports of machines and equipment from Germany have grown in recent years, with machines used in food packaging and plastics and rubber industries reaching around 45.5 million euros in January-November last year.
Bruna Santarelli from the Italian Trade Commission in Vietnam said that on this occasion, 12 machine and equipment manufacturers from Italy are attending the exhibitions.
According to Santarelli, Vietnam is striving to become an industrialized economy in 2020, and thus domestic manufacturers have higher demand for advanced technologies and production lines.
A representative of the Taiwanese business delegation at the exhibitions said that Vietnam’s industrial production is growing and that there are more Taiwan companies investing in Vietnam. Therefore, machine manufacturers in Taiwan are seeking business opportunities here in the nation, he added.
Meanwhile, the Japanese food packaging and machinery company Ishida considers Vietnam a big market.
Hitoshi Fujieda, general director of Ishida Vietnam Co., Ltd, said the firm has supplied over 300 packaging machines and many other production lines for Vietnamese enterprises such as Kinh Do, Bibica and Vinamit as well as foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam.
Vietnam’s food processing has grown rapidly over the years with an average growth rate of over 10% a year, said Tran Viet Dung, deputy director of VCCI Exhibitions as an organizer of the events.
The two exhibitions under the same roof are taking place at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center in District 7 until Thursday.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
