CP Vietnam aims for a 12% revenue growth, investing $20 million to build a pig processing plant expected to be completed by 2020, and hopes to become the world's number one shrimp exporter.

          Mr. Montree Suwanphothisri, Managing Director of CP Vietnam Corporation, revealed that this year CP aims for an average revenue growth rate of 12% compared to 2017, when total revenue was $1.947 billion. In the first nine months of this year (January-September 2018), CP's business in Vietnam generated $1.891 billion, a 31% increase from the same period last year. Over the past 25 years, CP has invested $1 billion in Vietnam. In addition to plans for a chicken processing plant for export in the south next year, there are plans to invest in a pig processing plant with an investment value of another $20 million, expected to be completed by 2020. In the future, there are plans to invest in 1-2 animal feed plants each year.

          Mr. Montree stated that the animal feed factory in Hai Duong is located in the northern region of Vietnam, covering an area of 60 rai, with a production capacity of 60,000 tons per month or 720,000 tons per year, accounting for about 19-20% market share compared to animal feed businesses from Korea and local producers, making it the number one in this sector in Vietnam. The company operates 7 land animal feed plants with a total production capacity of 4 million tons per year and 3 aquatic feed plants with a total production capacity of 400,000 tons per year, distributing to customers in northern Vietnam, including Hai Duong, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Nam Dinh, with 55% for sale and 45% for internal use.

          For the farm output in 2018, the production capacity for both land and aquatic animals includes 6.5 million pigs, 66 million broiler chickens, 750 million eggs, 45,800 tons of fish, 6,500 tons of shrimp, and 11,200 million frozen shrimp. Vietnam aims to become the world's number one shrimp exporter with a target of 1 million tons per year by 2025, up from last year's export of 330,000 tons per year. CP aims for a market share of 500,000 tons per year, with plans to expand hatchery capacity by another 50,000 million shrimp per year and increase shrimp feed production by an additional 200,000 tons per year from the current 300,000 tons per year.

          Mr. Montree mentioned that Vietnam's strengths lie in its agricultural background, hardworking and enthusiastic people, and high consumption rates, such as 50 million pigs consumed per year. The political stability under a single government administration instills confidence in foreign investors to invest significantly in Vietnam. After Vietnam opened up and established clear investment promotion policies, many countries have used Vietnam as a manufacturing base to export products to global markets. Therefore, the opportunity for Vietnam to surpass Thailand is not difficult, as long as Vietnam's political situation remains strong and all sectors move towards the same goal.

          “Vietnam is quite different from Thailand as it is more open to foreign investment. Personally, I believe that Vietnam will continue to welcome investors from various countries, including Japan, Europe, the United States, and countries under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which Thailand is not part of, resulting in lost investment opportunities in Thailand. Therefore, CP uses Vietnam as a manufacturing base to export to TPP countries and expand globally in potential markets,” Mr. Montree stated.

Thank you for the information from www.thaipost.net