Cashew trade with Africa under discussion
VOV.VN - The Ministry of Foreign Affair hosted a hybrid conference on December 13 on cashew trade with Africa to discuss measures to ensure the nation’s supply of raw cashew, drawing the participation over 70 representatives of ministries, sectors, localities, research institutes, import-export enterprises, and processing-production facilities.
The main purpose of the event is to evaluate the status quo and potential opportunities, as well as challenges facing the import of raw cashew from Africa and to discuss further orientations and measures aimed at improving the activity moving forward.
As part of his opening speech at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu emphasized that the cashew trade and co-operation in cashew production and processing are some of the important contents for collaboration with African countries in the future.
Participants assessed that Africa is promoting a trend of ‘self-reliance’ in politics and economics, including the development of domestic cashew production and processing. In addition, the Vietnamese import of raw cashew from Africa is also affected by poor harvests, farming techniques in African countries, food crises, inflation, and competition from international importers, among other factors.
They therefore suggested a score of measures, including building a sustainable chain, investing in joint ventures and associations with local partners, establishing local offices, and sending representatives to learn about the market.
Despite being world's largest exporter of finished cashew nuts, Vietnam must import roughly 70% of raw materials for processing. Major suppliers of raw cashew to the nation include West African countries, as well as Cambodia and Indonesia.