Mavin Group, a joint venture between Australia and Vietnam, became the first business in Vietnam to export frozen fresh pork to a foreign market when in late May its first batch went to Myanmar.

Mavin and Japanese-invested Sojitz Vietnam announced late last month they were tying up to export about 26 tonnes of frozen fresh pork to Myanmar every month.

Koyu & Unitek Co Ltd based in the southern province of Dong Nai exports poultry meat and processed poultry products to Japan.

Koyu & Unitek said it exports nearly 100 tonnes of processed chicken products to Japan every month.

All consignments are quarantined before export and checked when they enter the Japanese market, and so far all have met Japanese requirements, it said.

Khuu Nhon Hieu, the company’s director, said last year a chicken processing line was set up in Dong Nai province with a capacity of 110 tonnes per month.

It produces fried chicken products. Demand for grilled and boiled chicken products is also growing in Japan.

So the company installed two more production lines and got Japan’s veterinary agency to inspect and issue eligibility certificates to export to that country from June.

The three lines have a total capacity of 330 tonnes a month, and the company plans to invest in more new plants to increase its capacity to more than 1,000 tonnes per month to meet demand from Japan, Hieu said.

Other animal and poultry processing enterprises are also preparing to export products soon.

C.P. Vietnam Corporation is building a modern factory in Binh Phuoc province to make chicken products for export to Japan.

It is a closed-chain production line from producing chicken feed to breeding chickens and slaughtering and processing them.

In the 250-million-USD first phase, the company will raise 50 million chickens a year.

The company said it had signed export deals with many foreign customers for animal and poultry products even before building the plant.

Pham Thanh Hung, deputy director of Ba Huan Joint Stock Company, said the company is seeking to export processed chicken products to Japan. It would be done quickly since the company’s quality standards meet export requirements, he said.

The demand for pork and chicken products in many markets such as the Republic of Korea, Japan, and the EU is large, but only foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam have so far exported to them.

The director of a poultry breeding company in Dong Nai province said his company only supplies live chickens to export companies to get experience. In order to export directly, it needs to invest in a closed production chain and market research, and so remains apprehensive, he said.