Nam Dinh (VNA) – A hi-tech pig slaughterhouseof the international standard run by Bien Dong DHS, one of the biggest of itskinds in the north, was inaugurated in Hai Nam commune, Hai Hau district, thenorthern province of Nam Dinh on November 4.

The 21-hectare pork processing complex uses automatedslaughtering line from the Republic of Korea with a designed capacity of 300pigs per hour, according to Director of Bien Dong DHS Vu Trong Nghia. Thecomplex has a total investment of about 300 billion VND (nearly 12.8 millionUSD).

Pigs will be purchased from farms within supply chains inNam Dinh and neighbouring provinces which must satisfy Vietnamese GoodAgricultural Practices (VietGAP) based on four standards in productiontechniques, food safety, work environment, and origin traceability.

The plant’s main products include frozen pork and heat-treatedpork products which will be distributed domestically and exported to foreignmarkets like Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and Malaysia.

Agriculture is Nam Dinh’s key industry with a strongdevelopment of animal husbandry, said Chairman of the provincial People’sCommittee Pham Dinh Nghi. Local farms raise a total of about 800,000 pigs whichproduce more than 150,000 tonnes of pork per year, accounting for over 81percent of the province’s meat output, he added.

The province houses around 300 large-scale animal farmsand thousands of household farms, many of which have been verified to meetVietGAP standards and recognized as free of foot-and-mouth disease and AfricanSwine Fever (ASF), Nghi said.

However, the province still lacks large-scaleslaughterhouses, he noted, adding that the launch of Bien Dong DHS porkprocessing plant marks a new milestone in the development of local agriculture.

Speaking at the launching event, Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said to ensure sufficientinput for the complex’s production, the company and the province must builddisease-free zones for animal farming and develop safe and clean supply chainsof pigs. He also urged the company to further advance its production technologyto provide pork for not only the local market but also overseas ones. –VNA