The three-day exhibition attracted over 150 enterprises from 24 countries and territories, including those with hi-tech agriculture such as the Netherlands, Israel and Spain.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Nguyen Hong Son, Director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that vegetables, flowers and fruits are an important commodity group in Vietnam’s agricultural restructuring project.
The country has reported average annual growth of 5 percent in terms of production scale, productivity and output of vegetables, flowers and fruits, he said.
However, the sector is facing a lot of challenges, including limitations in investment, lack of processing and production technologies, and unstable consumption markets. In addition, the export of agricultural products to China, Vietnam’s largest importer, is suffering difficulties due to negative impacts from the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, Son added.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, said that with the participation of big buyers from many countries and territories, HortEx 2020 will serve as a forum to enhance trade connectivity and seek markets for Vietnamese products.
This was also a chance for management offices, research institutes and enterprises to exchange investment-related information, update production technologies and share experience, he added.
A series of seminars are expected to be held during the exhibition.
VNA/VNP
