Hai Duong province has experienced a strong development in agricultural processing, driven by active companies and investors. In addition to improving the quality and brand of agricultural products, they have helped bring Vietnamese sweet fruits to the world market. Our reporter had an exclusive interview with Mr. Nguyen Khac Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company - one of the outstanding agricultural exporters in the province - about this matter.
Ameii’s Thanh Ha lychee packing area for export
Could you introduce some new points in Ameii's operation in Hai Duong province after its success with Thanh Ha lychee in Japan?
Ameii has been on a mission to bring the “essence of Vietnamese products” to customers around the world. In just five years of being present in Hai Duong province, Ameii has exported about 30 products to more than 25 countries. Notably, it has brought many local agricultural products to international customers, including lychee to Japan - a very popular choice among consumers.
In the past three years, Hai Duong’s carrot exports have been more favorable than in previous years. In 2021, Ameii’s carrot shipments to South Korea accounted for 80% of its exports. This shows that the quality of Hai Duong agricultural products has gradually reached export standards imposed in strict markets. Additionally, the connection based on support, sharing and sincerity between Ameii with farmers and local authorities that Ameii has reinforced and cultivated is also a bright spot in the company’s activities.
Would you tell us about this more specifically?
Before coming to Hai Duong, Ameii had invested in many other provinces and cities. Therefore, more than anyone else, the company understands that a successful brand not only comes from a good relationship between the company and farmers but also from the support and cooperation of local authorities - an extremely important factor.
During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, with the active support of central and local authorities, the company’s operations remained stable and effective. Sometimes, their vehicles could not circulate late at night and they reported their circumstances to provincial authorities and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and received timely care and support. This was truly inspirational for them. Besides, Ameii highly appreciated the effort of the provincial government with various support policies and practical trade promotion activities.
Furthermore, the key is the heightened awareness of farmers who directly make products. One of Ameii’s development focuses is building deep and sustainable bonding. When lychee prices are low, Ameii is still committed to buying high-quality products at stable prices, thus motivating them to actively make plans for the next seasons of high-quality farming. Recently, farmers have taken the initiative to take product samples for standard testing and send results to Ameii instead of waiting for the company’s staff. That is a very positive change.
However, these results are just the beginning for Ameii. Changing their mindset of agricultural exports is not quick and easy.
What makes you worried about Vietnamese agricultural products? What are Ameii's concerns in the coming time?
All companies want to increase their exports. To do so, they must solve three matters: Exportable, exported and finally sustainable export. Ameii has already solved the first matter, so how can they export? This depends on the link chain and close relationship between the company with farmers and cooperatives. Quite often, Ameii does not have enough supplies for the market while customer demand is very large.
Sustainable export is what Ameii is extremely concerned about. Every year, Ameii develops new markets through many channels, including external channels of governmental agencies, embassies and counselors. However, nothing is as stable as the bond with farmers. If this bonding is strong enough and sustained enough, they will understand their product value. Then, Ameii will be able to remove bottlenecks in the way to bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the world in the future.
Besides, accessing capital is not easy for Ameii when the company is carrying out a plan to build a high-tech processing area in Hai Duong province. Executing this plan requires a huge investment and this is not a simple task. Although Ameii’s profitability is not as high as expected, every year the company boldly invests in technology research and digital transformation to improve productivity, quality, and competitiveness of agricultural products.
You have just mentioned digital transformation in business. What do you think about the significance and importance of digital transformation in agriculture? How does Ameii address this issue?
Digital transformation is present in all areas of life. This is also the core content of high-tech agricultural development that Ameii is aiming for. Digital transformation helps analyze data about the environment, soil, crops, hydrometeorology and other factors from which producers make appropriate decisions (fertilizing, watering, spraying, harvesting, etc.), easily balance production costs, reduce environmental pollution, trace origins and monitor agricultural product quality parameters from farm to fork.
Ameii has quickly caught up with this trend. Since starting to export agricultural products to Japan, Ameii has applied Harvest Management software which is based on a survey of gardens, regions and households to plan and calculate transportation, estimate the harvest date and output, and rationally regulate the volume of goods on a daily basis.
In particular, after a period of thorough testing, Ameii successfully researched an application for subregional meteorological monitoring stations. Outstandingly, while normal weather applications can only forecast province-wide and region-wide, their stations can forecast the weather within a range of about 5-10km, helping farmers pick a better time for spraying and harvesting.
We believe that Ameii’s serious and methodical investment, plus the close coordination of farmers and local authorities will create extended arms for building the sustainable value chain for Hai Duong agricultural products as well as making great strides in branding Vietnamese agricultural products in the world market.
Thank you very much!
Bao Ngoc (Vietnam Business Forum)
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi