Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached 629 million USD in thefirst five months of this year, soaring 17.8 percent in turnovercompared to the same period last year.
The country exportednearly 900,000 tonnes of fruit in the past five months, with dragonfruit taking the lead with 350,000 tonnes, followed by watermelons(250,000 tonnes), longans (110,000 tonnes) and bananas (30,000 tonnes).
Vietnamese fruit and vegetables are exported to over 40 countries and territories.
Theten leading markets are mainland China, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan,the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Netherlands, Thailand and Singapore.
Thecountry's exports have enjoyed strong growth in the past five years,with an average rate of 26.5 percent a year, from 439 million USD in2009 to 1.49 billion USD in 2014.
However, fruit exports tohigh-value markets such as Japan, the EU, the US and Australia remainlow. Exports to China, the country's key market, are mainly throughunofficial channels.
Dinh Van Huong, Chairman of the VietnamFruit and Vegetables Association, told Thoi bao kinh te Vietnam (VietnamEconomic Times) that Vietnamese fruit and vegetables met qualitystandards, but lacked a recognised brand.
It would be difficultfor fruit that do not have registered trademarks, brand names andgeographic indications to access markets and shopping centres in foreigncountries, he explained.
Products are consumed mainly byoverseas Vietnamese or bought by foreign partners who import and packthem using advanced technology, Huong said.
There are over 100fruit and vegetable processing companies operating on an industrialscale nationwide, and their production capacity is up to 300,000 tonnesper year.
However, a small number of them have licences to exportto foreign countries. Enterprises mainly buy fruit from farmers andsell to foreign dealers, and have no strategy to access foreign markets.
NguyenXuan Hong, Head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD)'s Plant Protection Department, said the country lacked experiencein opening export markets.
To boost fruit and vegetable exports,Vietnam needed to make big changes from production to commerce, Hongsuggested. In production, the country needed to expand plantations thatapplied the Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) standards to satisfy choosymarkets. Trade promotions and marketing should also be adapted, headded.-VNA
The country exportednearly 900,000 tonnes of fruit in the past five months, with dragonfruit taking the lead with 350,000 tonnes, followed by watermelons(250,000 tonnes), longans (110,000 tonnes) and bananas (30,000 tonnes).
Vietnamese fruit and vegetables are exported to over 40 countries and territories.
Theten leading markets are mainland China, Japan, the US, Russia, Taiwan,the Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Netherlands, Thailand and Singapore.
Thecountry's exports have enjoyed strong growth in the past five years,with an average rate of 26.5 percent a year, from 439 million USD in2009 to 1.49 billion USD in 2014.
However, fruit exports tohigh-value markets such as Japan, the EU, the US and Australia remainlow. Exports to China, the country's key market, are mainly throughunofficial channels.
Dinh Van Huong, Chairman of the VietnamFruit and Vegetables Association, told Thoi bao kinh te Vietnam (VietnamEconomic Times) that Vietnamese fruit and vegetables met qualitystandards, but lacked a recognised brand.
It would be difficultfor fruit that do not have registered trademarks, brand names andgeographic indications to access markets and shopping centres in foreigncountries, he explained.
Products are consumed mainly byoverseas Vietnamese or bought by foreign partners who import and packthem using advanced technology, Huong said.
There are over 100fruit and vegetable processing companies operating on an industrialscale nationwide, and their production capacity is up to 300,000 tonnesper year.
However, a small number of them have licences to exportto foreign countries. Enterprises mainly buy fruit from farmers andsell to foreign dealers, and have no strategy to access foreign markets.
NguyenXuan Hong, Head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD)'s Plant Protection Department, said the country lacked experiencein opening export markets.
To boost fruit and vegetable exports,Vietnam needed to make big changes from production to commerce, Hongsuggested. In production, the country needed to expand plantations thatapplied the Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) standards to satisfy choosymarkets. Trade promotions and marketing should also be adapted, headded.-VNA
