Lai Chau partners with Mavin group to shape high-tech livestock strategy

On June 17, Member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Lai Chau Provincial Party Committee Le Minh Ngan, along with representatives from local departments and sectors, held a working session with Mr. David John Whitehead, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mavin Group Joint Stock Company, to exchange views and receive a progress report on the Group's projects in the province.

Reshaping the northwest livestock strategy

At a working session with Provincial Party Secretary Le Minh Ngan and leaders of Lai Chau province, Mr. David John Whitehead, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mavin Group, stated that Mavin operates under a closed value chain spanning from animal feed, breeding stock, and livestock farming to food processing, always aiming for green and sustainable development.

Given the province's potential and advantages in land availability, climate, and an orientation toward agricultural development, the Group seeks to foster long-term cooperation with Lai Chau. This includes investing in high-tech livestock projects to generate jobs, raise incomes for local people, and promote local economic growth.

Since 2021, Mavin Group had proposed a Livestock, Cultivation, and Agricultural Product Processing Complex project in Muong Than commune, with a total registered investment capital of approximately 400 billion VND. The project's goal was to build a high-tech, closed, and biosecure pig-farming complex serving both domestic and export markets, while generating employment and driving local economic development. However, after years of preparation, the project has yet to receive investment policy approval due to complications regarding national defense land.

According to the latest adjustment proposal in June 2026, Mavin continued to demonstrate its investment commitment by expanding the projected land use area to 150 hectares, an increase compared to the 2021 plan. The project features an animal feed processing mill with an annual capacity of 45.000 tons, a raw material preliminary processing plant with an annual capacity of 200.000 tons, a high-tech pig farming system with a scale of 90.000 commercial pigs and 5.000 breeding sows per year, an organic fertilizer processing plant utilizing livestock waste with a capacity of 15.000 tons per year, and an industrial timber forest combined with a biological buffer zone spanning nearly 57 hectares.

The entire proposed project area basically aligns with the adjusted Lai Chau Provincial Planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, as well as the approved land-use targets.

The leaders of Mavin Group also proposed researching an investment in a High-tech Pig Breeding Center project in Muong Kim commune, with a scale of 4.000 sows and an annual capacity of 60.000 piglets on an area of about 54 to 55 hectares. The project is deemed suitable for the province's orientation of developing concentrated livestock farming zones, and the enterprise has conducted surveys, research, and submitted investment policy proposals in accordance with regulations.

Heading toward concentrated livestock farming

Lai Chau enjoys favorable natural conditions to develop large livestock, indigenous pigs, poultry, and various specialty animals. Livestock farming has long been an important livelihood for tens of thousands of highland households. However, the livestock sector in Lai Chau province still primarily relies on smallholders. Approximately 99% of current livestock facilities are small-scale and fragmented, with few concentrated farms established yet.

This production method poses significant challenges for disease control, food safety assurance, and environmental treatment. Locals mainly sell their products through traders, resulting in low added value and making it difficult to build brands or trace product origins.

Meanwhile, Lai Chau's current livestock density reaches only about 0.2 livestock units per hectare of agricultural land, far below its planned capacity. This indicates that the sector's room for growth remains substantial. In the context of increasingly visible climate change, developing livestock farming in a green, biosecure, and low-emission direction is becoming an inevitable requirement.

Speaking at the working session, Provincial Party Secretary Le Minh Ngan affirmed that Lai Chau always welcomes and creates the most favorable conditions for businesses to explore and invest in the locality.

Lai Chau is directing a gradual shift from smallholder livestock farming to concentrated, high-tech farm models, while encouraging the development of a circular economy in animal husbandry.

The Provincial Party Secretary requested that Mavin Group thoroughly study the sector's development planning and the province's concentrated livestock zones to select appropriate investment models, prioritize the application of modern technology, ensure biosecurity, and pursue environmentally friendly development.

If the projects are implemented soon, they will provide an important impetus for Lai Chau to attract more investors to high-tech agriculture, step by step shaping a concentrated livestock sector, generating more jobs, and contributing to local economic growth in the coming period.

$ 1 = VND 26,433 - Source: Vietcombank.