Vietnamese farm products gain foothold in major overseas markets

Vietnam earned more than US$40 billion from exporting agro-forestry and fishery products during the past nine months of the year, a rise of 15% compared to the same period from last year.

The reviewed period witnessed seven groups of products each rake in over US$2 billion from exports. In addition, a range of items recorded higher export value than the same period from last year, including Pangasius which rose by more than 83%, coffee up nearly 38%, and shrimp up nearly 25%.

Furthermore, Vietnamese agricultural products continued to achieve steady growth in four key markets - the US, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Moving forward, the remaining three months of the year is likely to see the export of agro-forestry and fishery products encounter difficulties, especially in terms of a decrease in orders caused by the impact of inflation hitting major markets. However, the agricultural sector has devised solutions in an attempt to raise the export turnover of its products to more than US$50 billion for the entire year.

The export of shrimp, one of the country’s hard currency earners, has fallen victim to the ongoing global recession due to demand for the product falling considerably as a result of the impact of rising inflation in major economies. In contrast, nine-month seafood export turnover recorded a remarkable increase thanks to high export growth, with items such as tuna, squid, octopus, and fish contributing to offsetting shrimp exports.

Flexibility in terms of export structure remains a factor that helps groups of agro-forestry-fishery products maintain their growth rate.

“The export value of forestry products for instance increased by 1.3% in July, but the growth rate rose to 6.5% in August and even 11.2% in September thanks to the shift to pallet export. We may see a decrease in orders in some markets but an increase in orders elsewhere,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien.

Enhancing deep processing to create a high-added value instead of increasing the quantity of export items is a move which is viewed as a basic solution to ensure the efficiency of exports. This solution is therefore anticipated to help pepper exporters reach US$900 million this year.

“In addition to raw materials, we have processed pepper products such as ground pepper and powdered pepper for export, so our export products are more diverse than previously,” said Hoang Thi Lien, president of the Vietnam Pepper Association.

The agricultural sector is actively taking advantage of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) in order to export products to the EU market. As a result, pepper and coffee represent the two commodities which have enjoy high export growth rates of more than 70% to this market.

Both farmers and businesses are becoming increasingly involved in the responsible production model to create high-value and green products. Through this direction, many coconut products from the country are now available in Europe, with the selling price seven times higher compared to the raw sale price.

“Vietnamese products are gradually standing firm in Europe, because we have built modernly equipped production lines meeting quality standards in demanding markets,” stated Tran Van Duc, chairman of the Board of Directors of Ben Tre Coconut Investment Company.

The fourth quarter of the year is considered to be the prime time for businesses to increase exports. The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers forecasts that by the end of November, the country will be able to meet the US$10 billion export target as expected.

Support from a network of Vietnamese Trade Offices across 176 foreign markets will therefore be an important basis for the agricultural sector to fulfil its target.