Source: Vietnam News Agency

The resort city of Da Lat, in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, could become a new Holland in flower exports in the next 10 to 15 years if local farmers were helped to grow high-quality flowers on an industrial scale.

Thomas Hooft, General Director of Dalat Hasfarm, the leading flower grower in the Central Highlands and the only flower exporter in the country, talked with the Vietnam Investment Review.

Hooft said Hasfarm's success is encouraging Da Lat farmers to expand their flower growing capacity. Currently, some 6,000 families in the resort city are engaged in flower production with more than 1,000 hectares of greenhouses.

He said local farmers need to invest in greenhouses because their current flower quality does not meet the standards for export. If they can meet export standards, his company will buy their products, he stressed.

After 10 years of investing in flower growing techniques, Dalat Hasfarm earns an annual revenue of 10 million USD. The company invested 12 million USD in flower farms and created jobs for 1,000 workers. Hasfarm has been extending its reach to Japan and Australia. It has weekly orders from Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia and is aiming to penetrate East Asian markets. Besides growing flowers, the company also invests in vegetable and dairy farms.