Nguyen Hong Hung, deputy director of Yasaka Fruit Processing Company, said the 100 percent foreign invested firm would have the capacity to treat 5 tons of fruit a day. Hung told the heat treatment technology met Japanese fruit import standards and that the US$4 million plant’s first phase would treat dragon fruit bound for Japan.

Japan was the second export market to license imports for Vietnamese dragon fruit after the US. The plant would expand its treatment to other fruit for export to Asian markets like South Korea, Taiwan and Australia, said Hung. The firm would deliver the service next month, he added. Yasaka has also invested in the Yasaka Hotel, with Saigontourist, in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa Province.