The American Feed Industry Assn. (AFIA) has received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) under its Emerging Markets Program 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.

Vietnam is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, maintaining 6% average annual gross domestic product growth over the past 10 years. In recent years, Vietnam has also become 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. However, with the African swine fever outbreak, swine production is expected to drop, resulting in increased imports of pork products.

Regardless, estimates put the size of Vietnam’s animal feed additive market at roughly $160.5 million by 2022, up from $112.45 million in 2014, which represents a compound annual growth rate of more than 4.7% from 2015 to 2022.

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