Nation needs wholesale markets   A farmer havests dragon fruit. Viet Nam has been urged to build a wholesale agricultural market worth billions of dollars. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue HA NOI - The Vietnamese Government was considering a project to build a wholesale agricultural market worth billions of US dollars, said an official of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Korcham Viet Nam) According to Hong Sun, Secretary-General of Kor-cham in Viet Nam, farm products were the key exports of Viet Nam, but their distribution faced many difficulties, including the lack of wholesale markets to have auctions and distribute products everywhere, Bizlive newspaper online reported. The disadvantage would create a barrier for Vietnamese enterprises to gain from the Viet Nam-South Korea free trade agreement and increase Viet Nam's exports of farm products, he said. Therefore, Korcham had proposed to build a wholesale market for farm products on an area of 300ha in Ha Noi, six times larger than the similar market in Seoul, he noted. Viet Nam needed a modern distribution system to improve the competitive ability of its local farm products because the cost of distribution of Vietnamese farm products at present accounted for 20 per cent of the cost of trading, 10 per cent higher than other countries, he pointed out. The key structure of the market would be constructed in 2-3 years, on a total investment of US$300-400 million, he said, adding that the construction of the entire market needed $1-2 billion. Hong Sun noted that the investment will come from foreign investors, including major capital from South Korea. The market would have wholesale and retail sections and its operation would be supported by modern information technology system to ensure fair auctions, he added. Korcham is currently looking for space for the market in Ha Noi as it needs a large area. The market would gather farm products to be exported to South Korea and, may be, to some other neighbouring markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan, he said. During the initial period, Korcham might employ experts with experience from South Korea or other countries to support Viet Nam in developing the market because the management of the market would be based on a modern software system, he added. — VNS