BASF relaunches Vietnam business

Starting on August 7, the global firm sold its crop protection products directly in Vietnam instead of via intermediaries as previously.

The new business also aimed to help crops tolerate drought and control weeds, said BASF Vietnam’s managing director Petrus Ng. He added agricultural solutions were one of BASF’s five business segments and received the highest research and development investment.

Raman Ramachandran, BASF senior vice president, crop protection in Asia-Pacific, echoed the comments saying, “We aim to bring to Vietnamese farmers the full benefits of our innovative crop protection products. As we want to focus even more strongly on Vietnam, we have taken the strategic decision to re-enter the market in our own right.”

BASF has ended its agreement with its Vietnam distributor, and from now on will market its crop protection products directly in the country. These include the company’s AgCelence products, for example the fungicide Headline, which offers disease control, as well as improved yield, stress tolerance and quality of crops.

As part of the new move, BASF will establish an expert field team to provide training and development for Vietnamese farmers. The field team members will visit farmers and provide expertise on crop development, facilitating experience and information exchanges between farmers and industry experts.

BASF Vietnam has some 30 staff members for the team and Leon Van Mullekom,  BASF business director for crop protection in Southeast Asia, told VIR that the company expects to double that in two years. “The problem here is how to find the right people,” he said.

The multinational company is also considering the establishment of what it calls an AgSolution Farm, which would showcase its agricultural innovations for farmers, partners and employees. BASF operates AgSolution farms around the world, including regional countries like Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. “Such a farm would be set up in Vietnam in 2014 or 2015,” said Mullekom.

He added BASF would regularly launch new crop protection products in Vietnam every year.