Ministry optimistic about fruit-veggie export prospects
With effective cooperation between farmers, businesses and State management agencies, Vietnam is likely to realise its goal of US$10 billion in fruit-vegetables export turnover by 2020.
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The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is devising measures to increase the export turnover of fruits and vegetables to US$4 billion in 2018 from US$3.5 billion in 2017.
According to Nguyen Quoc Toan, head of the ministry’s agricultural product processing and market development department, Vietnam earned US$1.32 billion from exporting fruits and vegetables in the first four months of 2018, a year-on-year rise of 29.5%.
This is a good sign reflecting the effective coordination of localities and enterprises, he said.
Vietnam has great potential in agriculture with competitive fruits and vegetables.
The export turnover of fruits and vegetables has seen impressive growth in recent years, which topped US$1 billion in 2015 and US$2 billion in 2016 and hit US$3.5 billion in 2017.
Seeing fruits and vegetables as a strong product, businesses and farmers have joined hands to make long-term investment.
Toan added that Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have been sold in 170 countries and territories.
Vietnam has signed nearly 16 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, he said, adding that the international economic integration in agriculture has brought both opportunities and challenges for the country.
“If we can organise production effectively, the proportion of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the global market will increase,” he said.
Despite impressive achievements in 2017, up to 70% of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables were exported to China, while the ratio to other major markets like the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US and the EU was limited.
This was attributed to shortcomings in processing, preservation and logistics infrastructure, Toan said, adding that building material supply areas for processing plants is a headache for State management agencies.
He suggested businesses improve quality and invest in fruit and vegetable preservation to reach out further to the global market.
