The second "Belt and Road" Laos-China Cooperation Forum, co-sponsored by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Laos, Xinhua News Agency, and the Lao Chinese Chamber of Commerce, was held recently. Li Pengcheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive President of Mengniu Group, said in his keynote speech that over the past ten years, Mengniu Group has been deeply involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and has worked with dairy enterprises in Laos and other Southeast Asian countries to promote the construction of a global dairy community. In the future, Mengniu will continue to increase investment along the "Belt and Road" and strengthen cooperation with all walks of life in Southeast Asia.
Li Pengcheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive President of Mengniu Group, delivered a speech at the event. Photo courtesy of the company.
A bottle of milk builds a bridge of "people-to-people connection".
As the world's leading dairy industry and the "national team" of China's dairy industry, Mengniu's international development has also built a brand bridge between China and Southeast Asia.
In 2018, Mengniu invested in the construction of Youyi C factory in Indonesia and laid out the Southeast Asian market. Over the past five years, Mengniu's Indonesian factory has built a complete chain of "overseas milk source, overseas processing, and overseas sales" to bring nutritious and delicious dairy products to local consumers.
Mengniu Indonesia Factory. Photo courtesy of the company.
Li Pengcheng said that the Indonesian factory has not only brought considerable economic benefits to the local area, but also actively fulfilled its social responsibilities. At present, more than 90% of Mengniu's Indonesian factories have local employees, and through the establishment of training academies and "order-based" talent training, local dairy talents have grown rapidly.
Today, the 'Ai Xue' ice cream you saw at the venue has a cumulative sales of nearly 10 billion yuan. Li Pengcheng said that "Ai Xue" is an ice cream brand created by Mengniu for the Southeast Asian market. Under the "Belt and Road" initiative, Ai Xue has introduced China's advanced food technology and scientific and modern management concepts to Southeast Asia, and built 4 modern model factories in Indonesia, the Philippines and other places, and its products are deeply loved by local consumers and rank first in Indonesia's market share.
First, the Philippines has the second share.
It is understood that since "Ai Xue" entered the Lao market in 2021, it has provided free freezer terminals worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to local small and medium-sized stores, laying a solid foundation for subsequent market development. Sales are expected to increase by 60% year-on-year in 2023.
We will continue to promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
At the theme dinner of the 2nd "Belt and Road" Laos-China Cooperation Forum and the "Mengniu Aixue Night" Chinese Brand Tasting held at the same time, the guests discussed the construction of the "Belt and Road" and demonstrated the innovative practices of Chinese enterprises to promote the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road".
Theme dinner and "Mengniu Aixue Night" Chinese brand tasting site. Photo courtesy of the company.
Mengniu Group was born in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia and thrived under the nourishment of the Yellow River, China's mother river. In just 24 years since its establishment, Mengniu has grown into a leading dairy enterprise in China and ranks among the top eight in the global dairy industry. A cow ran out of rocket speed, and also from a grassland cow to the world cow. Li Pengcheng shared Mengniu's exploration and practice in promoting high-quality development and jointly building the "Belt and Road".
As one of the earliest dairy enterprises in China to achieve "going global", Mengniu has accumulated rich experience in overseas industrial chain operation over the years, and currently has overseas production bases in New Zealand, Indonesia and Australia, with a total of 68 factories worldwide and a total annual production capacity of more than 10 million tons, ranking among the top eight in the global dairy industry and the youngest dairy enterprise in the world's top 10.
Over the years, Mengniu has been cooperating with technology partners, industry leaders and industry chain partners to make full use of the nutrients and product research and development resources accumulated in the traditional core liquid milk business, systematic and digital intelligent production infrastructure and processes, and global channel competitive advantages, and the brand power established by linking international IP and marketing resources over the years, exploring new tracks in the field of dairy products and nutrition and health, cultivating new growth curves, and laying out a good layout for the long-term sustainable development of the business.
Li Pengcheng said in his speech that in the future, Mengniu will continue to increase investment along the "Belt and Road", comprehensively strengthen cooperation with all walks of life in Southeast Asia, and provide better products and services for the "Belt and Road" countries with more nutritious, smarter and greener innovative development.
Text: Guo Tie, Editor: Song Yuting.
Proofread by Diyan Chen.