ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, U.S. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) gave the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) funding to conduct a market assessment in Vietnam.

The goal and focus of the assessment will be to identify how to improve the availability and transparency of distribution channels by addressing sanitary and phytosanitary issues and other non-tariff barriers, thereby increasing prospects for U.S. trade and investment.

Once the market assessment is completed, AFIA will work with FAS on implementing and addressing the recommendations that come out of the assessment.

According to AFIA, Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, maintaining an average 6% annual GDP growth over the past 10 years. In recent years, Vietnam has also risen as a leading agricultural product importer.

“The key driver of the local feed industry has been the Vietnamese hog industry. In 2016, imports of feed ingredients sharply increased to meet the growing demand of local feed,” AFIA said. “However, with the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak, swine production is expected to drop resulting in increased imports of pork products. Regardless, estimates put the market size for Vietnam’s animal feed additives at roughly $160.5 million in 2022, up from $112.45 million in 2014, growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 4.7% from 2015 to 2022.”

Along with the support from consultants and in collaboration with FAS and existing resources in Vietnam, AFIA will implement the market assessment over the next six months.