HÀ NỘI — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday signed loan agreements worth US$20 million with Agripacific Holdings (APH) and Kunming Hasfarm Flowers (KHF) to develop high-value horticulture in Việt Nam, China and Indonesia.

ADB will lend the equivalent of $15 million in US dollars and Japanese yen to APH -- a major grower of cut flowers in Asia -- and equivalent of $5 million in Chinese yuan, to KHF, APH’s main subsidiary for operations in China. The transaction is ADB’s first private sector loan denominated in Japanese yen outside the financial sector.

Martin Lemoine, Agribusiness Investment Unit head at ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department, said agricultural development was the key to eradicating poverty and creating conditions for sustainable and equitable growth in developing Asia.

“Our partners have a strong domestic and export-oriented business model that acknowledges the importance of developing value-added crops through high-end technology, integration of climate-resilient farming and gender-inclusive policies,” Martin said.

ADB’s financing will help APH scale up and transfer its successful business model built through the introduction of climate-controlled greenhouse technology and a vertically-integrated business geared towards domestic and export markets. This will help expand the flower business in the three countries. The model will also be replicated for sustainable vegetable production in Việt Nam.

Under the terms of ADB’s financing, APH has committed to implement a gender action plan that will increase the proportion of women employees to 65 per cent and the proportion of women in management and supervisory positions to 63 per cent by 2020.

APH is a major grower of cut flowers in Asia, with some 350ha of farms and around 3,000 employees. Since its creation in 1992, APH has developed highly efficient greenhouse operations in Đà Lạt, Việt Nam, a retail distribution network throughout Việt Nam under the brand name "Dalat Hasfarm", a wholesale distribution business in Japan (Greenwings Japan), and since 2014, has operated in China. Expansion to Indonesia began in 2016. — VNS