Patcharin Chindaphan, president of the Thai Eastern Shrimp Association, said this year’s exposition is the first such event to include aquatic animals at the same event.

The event, to be held in Chachoengsao, will share academic findings and other know-how about aquatic animals with farmers in order to improve the capacity of Thai aquaculture industry and to promote production in accordance with the needs of the world aquatic market. The event aims to create unity in the Thai aquaculture industry.

“Thai Aqua Expo 2019” will be divided into 3 major parts. The first will feature academic seminars to share knowledge with farmers while the second will help match aquaculture input traders, and the third will celebrate the birthday of the King.

The president of Thai Eastern Shrimp Association has invited local and overseas aquatic farmers and those in related fields to join the event. Participants will be able to access knowledge and techniques from government and private-sector experts and specialists in aquaculture, as well as marketing and other specialists.

The sharing of information will benefit the sustainable national development of aquaculture and a sustainable success for farmers, he said.

Ly Kim Chi, chairwoman of the Food and Foodstuff Association of HCM City, said the food and beverage sector accounts for 15 per cent of Viet Nam’s GDP and is growing at 7 per cent annually on average.

“Vietnamese spend a third of their income on food and beverages,” she told a B2B event held in HCM City last week that attracted the participation of 49 Indian companies who exhibited their products at the recent Vietfood and Beverage-Propack exhibition.

Indian consul general in the city, Dr. K Srikar Reddy, said Viet Nam is a major producer and exporter of food and agricultural products but “is also a major food importer and consumer.

“Agricultural products form a significant portion of the total bilateral trade between the two countries. India is among major suppliers to Viet Nam of food products like seafood, meat, cereals, and fresh and processed vegetables and fruits.”

Mohan Ramesh Anand, chairman of the Indian Business Chamber in Viet Nam, said with a population of over 95 million and increasing demand for food and beverages, Viet Nam is a large food and beverage market, making it attractive to local and international investors, including Indian.

He believed Indian investment in Viet Nam would increase in future.

Polish firms

Many leading Polish businesses that produce beef, poultry and pork meat, meat-based products, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, fruit concentrates and preserves, and other food products are looking to enter the Vietnamese market.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Viet Nam-Poland B2B meeting in the food sector in HCM City last week, Piotz Ziemann, vice president of the Association of Butchers and Producers of Processed Meat of the Republic of Poland, said his country’s advantage is that it produces beef at 17 per cent less cost than the rest of the EU but tops them in quality.

Of its beef production 85 per cent is meant for export, and it is 55 per cent for chicken and 47 per cent for pork, he said.

“Poland’s foods not only have high quality, but also are safe and tasty.

“With fast economic growth and improving living standards, Vietnamese tend to choose food products that have higher quality, safer and tastier. This offers good opportunities for Poland companies in the sector.”

Poland’s pork has appeared in the Vietnamese market, but beef and chicken are still new to Viet Nam though they are popular in fastidious markets such as South Korea and Japan, he said.

He hoped the new EU programme titled “Tasteful Europe – Tradition and Quality” that was recently launched in Viet Nam and will be carried out from 2019 to 2022 would yield positive results, with more Vietnamese customers knowing about and using Polish meat products and fruits and vegetables.

The programme seeks to promote products like fresh, chilled and frozen meats, meat products, and high-quality poultry and fresh and processed fruit and vegetables in Viet Nam and other Asian markets.

It would provide Vietnamese consumers with knowledge about the uniqueness of European food production and convince the unconvinced that values such as production safety at every stage from field to table, and the resulting quality, sustainability and flavour combined with tradition would bring about a unique culinary experience, Ziemann said, who is also the head of the project.

The EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement would offer opportunities to enhance investment and trade ties between Viet Nam and Poland, he added. —VNS

ACFS secretary-general Juadee Pongmaneerat notes that young smart famers have an important role to play in helping government meet its goals of expanding the organic market, as set out in the 20-year national strategic plan 2018-2037. This involves creating awareness about the food safety system among both food producers and consumers while guiding farmers to ensure their products meet health standards.

The office’s newly developed website DGTFarm.comserves as an online marketplace and is open to young farmers to place any of their products provided these are 100-per-cent organically produced. A Business Matching option is also featured while the QR Trace helps buyers access product information.

Safe food and organic products will be exhibited and farmers encouraged to adopt new marketing channels for organic produce.

“This year, we expect to train 189 young smart farmers who have expressed interest in organic farming. We are confident that our efforts will increase the number of organic plantations,” Juadee said.

According to the Department of Internal Trade, there are 40,774 farmers in 119 groups certified by organic farming standards cultivating more than 521,826.56 rai. The Ministry of Commerce’s Organic Marketing Intelligence Center reports the value of domestic organic farming products at Bt3 billion baht, with Bt900 million coming from the domestic market. The growth rate is 10 per cent per year and the value of exports represents 0.06 per cent of the global value.

It is estimated that the global organic farming products could reach U$104 billion, or Bt3.55 trillion, and enjoy a growth rate of 20 per cent per year. The main markets dominating the global organic farming market are the United States, Canada, Europe, China and Australia.

Juadee adds that organic produce remains the choice of a niche market which regards health as the main priority and says this is growing rapidly. Organic farming is a platform for agricultural sustainability and generates more income and thus raises the living standards of farmers.

To respond the global trend of healthcare and to elevate produce to organic standard and GAP (Good Agricultural Practice), DGTFarm.com categorises the products into three types. They are organic produce, which is planted in land free from chemical and toxins such as vegetables, fruits, rice and processed food. Group 2 comprises products certified by GAP like vegetables, fruits, rice, egg, processed food, livestock and fishery products, including banana soap from Kamphaengphet province. Finally, the products with QR Trace identifies the source through a QR code attached to the products and include rice, eggs, vegetables, fruits, processed food and herbal cosmetics from Ratchaburi province.

Currently 1,600 farmers who have attained organic and GMP standards are active on the online marketplace.

The department deputy director-general Yongyuth Sawatdisawanee said the projects will include preparing a revolving fund to promote energy conservation, actions to support the use of energy-saving machinery, the promotion of solar rooftops, and demonstration projects targeted to farmers showing how to use less energy.

The department will this month hold a fifth and final hearing into its draft plan for developing alternative energy from 2018-2037.

The plan aims to raise the ratio of electricity generated by alternative energy sources to 30 per cent of total produced energy, representing 29,358 contracted megawatts, within 2037.

The contribution from solar energy will be increased to 15,574 megawatts in that year.

If operators insist on using their existing van, they must ensure the old van achieves the safety standards. For van operators who would like to change to a microbus, the registration deadline previously set for August 13 has been removed.

The minister also directed the Land Transport Department to allow vans 10-12 years old to ensure they pass quality standards. He will later discuss with the department about security measures.

Speaking at a seminar on “Energy for Industries for a sustainable future” to mark the 20th anniversary of the Institute for Industrial Energy on Friday (August 9), he revealed plans to establish a committee to work with the industrial sector in order to review the plan to use Napier grass, also known as elephant grass, as an energy source. He said the review process was expected to be completed within a month.

He spoke of a plan for Napier grass farming to feed electricity-generating plants, which could provide electricity to nearby villages and also encourage people to take part in energy production. This will help secure energy for people at a lower cost.

“I met with industries who are using Napier grass as a source for electricity. We will cooperate with the businesses to review and improve the power development plan [PDP]. In 2018, the PDP plan de-prioritised Napier grass in the energy crop group. However, I have to hold a session in order to hear from businesses and agriculture experts,” Sontirat said.

The Energy Ministry source said that the review of the Napier grass farming project was looking at two ways:

1 Using the successful business model of UAC Global, which uses Napier grass and corn as sources for biogas electricity production in Chiang Mai.

2 Adjust the pattern from the past to promote biogas by bringing the grass to ferment production of gas to produce electricity. This approach may help to reduce the cost of producing electricity.

“Napier grass electricity plants have to be based near animal farms due to the fermenting process and the need for a large water source. They are still discussing these matters to discover the proper approach,” the source said.

The Napier grass farming plan was proposed in 2013 by the then-energy minister, Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, as part of bioenergy production. However, the plan was abandoned a year later due to lack of a budget. The industrial sector continued with the plan without financial support from the government.

Coverage amounts for protection of deposits has been reduced by half, from Bt10 million to Bt5 million per account per financial institution starting August 11, the government’s Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) said.

The period of protection will last until August 10, 2020 after which the coverage amounts will be reduced to Bt1 million.

DPA president Songpol Chevapanyaroj said depositors covered will also drop to 99.65 per cent of total bank depositors from 99.83 per cent at present.

When the coverage amount reduces to Bt1 million, the depositor coverage will reduce to 98.14 per cent of total depositors.

“Although the number of depositors covered will have decreased, the coverage rate is higher than the global benchmark,” he said.

DPA, established in 2007 in the aftermath of the 1997 financial crisis, has been created to reduce taxpayers’ burden when crisis hits the financial system. Before the crisis, a blanket coverage was in place, therefore it was largely attributed to a rapid rise of public debt as a result of government spending tax money to rescue the banking sector.

The limited insurance is expected to check the risky behaviour of investors who search for high rate of returns without taking into account potential risks.