According to the Provincial Statistics Office, the food and pharmaceutical processing industries have experienced continuous growth in recent years. Notably, amid the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, these two sectors emerged as bright spots, acting as key drivers of the province’s overall industrial growth. The proportion of processed pharmaceutical, chemical, medicinal products, and exported food processing goods has also increased within the province’s total export turnover.
Strategic Initiatives and Investment Climate
Several factors have underpinned this robust growth. Foremost is the province’s proactive approach in improving the investment environment, effectively disbursing public investment capital, and seizing opportunities to attract new investment, especially FDI into the processing industries. Relevant departments and localities have actively supported the development of food and pharmaceutical processing as core industrial sectors.
The province has leveraged its strengths in agriculture and aquaculture by fostering concentrated production zones, enhancing productivity and quality of agricultural products, thereby creating reliable local raw material sources for processing. The OCOP (One Commune, One Product) program has been vigorously implemented, helping many food processing enterprises across districts and cities to upgrade production, improve weaknesses from manufacturing to distribution, enhance product quality, and diversify offerings within product lines.
Particularly, seafood processing enterprises have received support to elevate quality standards, meeting requirements for packaging, labeling, traceability, and food safety certification issued by competent Vietnamese authorities to penetrate international markets. A prime example is Nghia Hung District’s support for Lenger Vietnam Seafood Co., Ltd., which collaborated with Nam Dien clam farmers to produce ASC-certified Meretrix Lyrata clams, strengthening the province’s clam brand in global markets.
Building Brand Value and Export Capacity
Efforts to meet food safety standards and establish traceability have helped enterprises attract new business partners, expand markets, and grow their consumer base. The province now boasts over 500 facilities and enterprises engaged in preliminary processing and processing of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products. Many have established brands in demanding export markets such as the EU and Japan, including:
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Toan Xuan clean rice (Toan Xuan Co., Ltd.)
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NADISALT salt (Nam Dinh Salt and Trading JSC)
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Clams (Lenger Vietnam Seafood Co., Ltd.)
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Tiny shrimp (Hung Vuong Seafood One Member Co., Ltd.)
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Siu Chau candy (Kim Thanh Hoa Co., Ltd. – Nam Dinh City)
Meanwhile, pharmaceutical, chemical, and medicinal processing companies have solidified their position in the domestic market, with four pharmaceutical enterprises in the province recognized under the “Vietnam Value 2020” national brand awards.
Supporting Enterprises Amid COVID-19
Alongside investment initiatives, the province has swiftly implemented policies and solutions to help businesses mitigate damage, maintain stable operations, and develop production amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Food processing enterprises were promptly advised to increase production and supply of essential goods, frozen and dried products, and ready-to-eat items to meet domestic and export demand during periods of social distancing.
Pharmaceutical processors were encouraged and supported to seize short-term opportunities, ramp up production, and supply quality-assured products to aid in pandemic prevention and control. Notable provincial pharmaceutical brands such as Nam Ha Pharmaceutical JSC, Nam Duoc Co., Ltd., Truong Tho Pharmaceutical JSC, and Minh Dan Pharmaceutical JSC continued to expand their presence, securing long-term orders from new domestic and international partners.
Additionally, businesses were encouraged to explore and pivot to new export markets, reducing dependency on traditional ones, while actively leveraging opportunities presented by recently signed free trade agreements (FTAs, CPTPP).
A Promising Market with Strong Demand
The food and pharmaceutical processing industries are regarded as vibrant sectors thanks to favorable supply-demand dynamics and minimal impact from the pandemic, as their products are essential daily needs. In Vietnam’s youthful population with rising incomes, these sectors enjoy stable natural growth. Coupled with participation in various FTAs, Vietnam—and the province specifically—have become highly attractive destinations for foreign investors.
Even amid complex pandemic developments, demand surged for processed foods due to convenience and extended shelf life, while pharmaceutical demand also rose significantly.
Future Directions: Deepening Development and Enhancing Linkages
To capitalize on opportunities and drive further growth, the province is directing departments and localities to intensify support for local enterprises to grow more deeply and robustly. This includes planning raw material zones more closely linked with existing processing plants, implementing fundamental solutions to strengthen ties among localities, farmers, manufacturers, and regulators, thereby ensuring stable raw material supply for food and pharmaceutical processing.
Enterprises are encouraged to invest in modern equipment and technology to boost production capacity, quality, and brand building. Simultaneously, the province continues to mobilize resources to develop synchronous infrastructure, key transportation projects, and industrial clusters to enhance investment attraction, particularly in food and pharmaceutical processing.
Priority is given to attracting FDI from investors capable of fostering skill development and technology transfer, creating opportunities for local enterprises to collaborate with international partners within global value chains, without crowding out local SMEs, thus improving the competitiveness of provincial businesses.
Source:https://namdinh.gov.vn/portal/Pages/2021-6-25/Cong-nghiep-che-bien-thuc-pham-duoc-pham-dan-dat-txlkjoj.aspx
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