15 May 2023

As one of the few industries with an increase in export turnover in the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam's vegetables and fruits have many prospects for export turnover of 4 billion USD this year.

Export turnover increased

At the trade promotion conference with the Vietnamese Trade Office system abroad in March 2023, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that in the first 3 months of 2023, vegetables will be exported. the result reached nearly 1 billion USD, up 8% over the same period in 2022; in which the Chinese market increased very impressively, reaching 23%.

According to the leader of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, the above result was achieved because in 2022 Vietnam signed the Protocol to officially export durian, banana and sweet potato to the Chinese market. Besides, the successful export of pomelos to the US and lemons to New Zealand also helped increase fruit and vegetable export turnover impressively.

Durian is a commodity that makes a great contribution to the impressive export results of the fruit and vegetable industry in the first three months of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2022 alone, durian brought about 420 million USD in turnover for the industry. "It is expected that this year, if the situation is favorable, durian export turnover will reach around 1 billion USD, pushing the overall export turnover of the whole industry to 4 billion USD, up 20%," Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen said.

The implementation of free trade agreements is also an important driving force for fruit and vegetable exports to increase sharply in the first months of the year and makes an important contribution to the industry's exports throughout the year.

However, in the first 3 months of the year, the industry's exports to markets such as the EU, the US... did not increase much because the Chinese market opened on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, so demand skyrocketed; The advantage of close geographical location, low transportation costs, and high purchasing prices also make the source of goods to China more. Therefore, the source of goods for other markets is limited.

Open more official export markets

Fruit and vegetable is an industry with great export potential but has not yet been fully exploited. Therefore, the representative of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries and branches, especially the Vietnam Trade Office in China, study and negotiate to sign more protocols for a number of exported products. Official imports such as dragon fruit, mango, watermelon, jackfruit, rambutan... Along with that, we suggest that your side open more doors for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products such as: green-skinned pomelo, fresh coconut, avocado, lemon, etc. pineapple, breast milk.

Besides the Chinese market, other markets such as the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia also need to step up activities to open the market for Vietnam's strong products.

As for durian fruit, in order to create a breakthrough in durian consumption in China, increase the export turnover of the industry in 2023 as the desired goal, it is proposed to negotiate with the Chinese side to license more planting area codes. and packing code for Vietnam. Currently, the whole country has only 246 planting area codes, too few compared to Thailand (20,000 planting area codes; 2,000 packing facilities). “With an area of nearly 110,000 hectares, the output is nearly 1 million tons/year, this year. If the planting area code is not granted, there will be a bottleneck in durian exports to China", the leader of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association worried.

In addition, leaders of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association also proposed the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant ministries and branches to increase calls for capital investment and advanced technology for fruit and vegetable processing enterprises to increase export value. effectively penetrate into distant and difficult markets such as the US and EU. The Vietnam Trade Office in foreign countries organizes a Vietnamese fruit festival in the host country with dishes made from vegetables and fruits to promote the fruit and vegetable industry and cultural tourism of Vietnamese cuisine to friends in the host country. local and international visitors.

Before the proposal of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association on the Chinese market, Mr. Vu Tien Hung - Chief Representative of Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in Hangzhou (China) said: Many agricultural products of Vietnam have Harvest time is the same with China, so competition is fierce, so domestic enterprises need to pay attention. Especially, from January 1, 2022, China has implemented orders 248, 249, so businesses need to seriously implement it to be granted an export code to China. Besides, packaging and labels should be researched according to consumer tastes. At the same time, prepare full information about prices and transportation costs when a partner comes to learn and exchange to negotiate to import products of the enterprise.

It is expected that in 2023, the export of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable industry will reach 4 billion USD, of which durian will reach about 1 billion USD. 

Source: congthuong.vn