Hanoi (VNA) - Exportturnover in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries in the first half of 2020 wasestimated at 18.81 billion USD, a year-on-year decline of 3.4 percent.

Import turnover, meanwhile, stood at 14.3 million USD, down 6.6 percent.

The sector therefore posted a trade surplus of 4.5 billion USD, up 339 millionUSD against the same period last year.

Nguyen Van Viet, head of the Planning Department at the Ministry of Agricultureand Rural Development (MARD), attributed the results to falling demand andprices for key products in the market and declining export turnover to both Chinaand the US.

The group of main agriculture products earned 8.94 billion USD, down 2.7percent year-on-year, while turnover for livestock products was estimated at190 million USD, down 19.4 percent. Main fisheries products recorded anestimated 3.56 billion USD in turnover, down 8.6 percent, while main forestryproducts raked in 5.3 billion USD, up 2.7 percent.

The country earned 1.6 billion USD, 1.7 billion USD, and 384 million USD fromexporting coffee, rice, and vegetables in the period, up 1.2 percent, 18percent, and 19.5 percent, respectively.

China, the US, Japan, and the Republic of Korea remained the largest importersof Vietnamese agriculture, forestry, and fisheries products, with market sharesof 24 percent, 22 percent, 8.8 percent, and 6.1 percent, respectively.

To reach its export turnover target of about 41 billion USD in 2020, Viet saidthe sector will focus on seeking new markets and maintaining traditionalmarkets, while adopting measures to fully tap into opportunities brought about byfree trade agreements as well as enhancing trade promotion activities.

MARD will coordinate closely with other ministries, sectors, and localities inaddressing difficulties in trade, customs clearance, and quarantine ofagricultural products at official border gates, and strictly control non-quota agriculturalproduct import and export activities, especially with China./.