The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a vision forum and public-private partnership dialogue on animal farming in Hanoi on September 24, with a focus on dairy cow farming and dairy products.

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Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said Vietnam’s dairy cow farming is growing with a total turnover of 109 trillion VND (4.73 billion USD) last year. The country now ranks sixth in Asia in terms of milk output, and fourth in terms of dairy cow productivity.

Its milk and dairy products are popular at home and abroad, especially in China and the Middle East.

To meet increasing demand for animal products, Tien suggested accelerating the restructuring of the animal farming sector towards industrial scale, improving added values of animal products, and developing processing industry.

Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the Livestock Production Department, said dairy cow farming is most developed in the southeast region with 98,000 heads, accounting for over 33 percent of the country’s dairy cow herd, and in Nghe An, Ho Chi Minh City, Son La and Hanoi.

He said the milk output of Vietnam’s dairy cows reach 4,500 – 5,000kg per cycle, equivalent or higher than those in Thailand, Indonesia and China.

The sector set the target of having 500,000 heads of dairy cows, and one million tonnes of milk in 2020, with a yearly growth of over 11 percent. The respective figures will be 700,000 heads and two million tonnes by 2030.

Deputy head of the Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market Development Pham Van Duy said Vietnam has exported milk to 46 countries and territories, with the Middle East countries accounting for over 70 percent of the total volume.

He added that China will remain the largest importer of Vietnamese milk in the near future as its supply only meets 75 percent of domestic demand.

The two countries have signed a protocol on Vietnam’s milk export to China, and the first shipment under this protocol will be delivered to China this year.

According to Duy, milk export to China is expected to surge under the protocol, turning China into the biggest market for Vietnam’s milk.