Hanoi (VNA) -ཧ The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast that falling inflation in some global markets will be an opportunity for Vietnam's consumer goods exports to recover in the coming months.

Import-export value in May 2023 has grown higher than April with agricultural items experiencing particularly high growth, tipping the trade balance in favour of a surplus of nearly 10 billion USD. Those are the bright spots in the agricultural export sector in the first 5 months of 2023.

Rice exports see strong growth

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, total export value in May was estimated at more than 29.05 billion USD, an increase of 4.3% month-on-month, reaching 136.17 billion USD in the past 5 months. As many as 23 export items joined the more than one-billion-USD club, making up 87.4% of the total export turnover, including processed commodities, and agro-forestry products among others. In the first 5 months, Vietnam exported nearly 3.9 million tonnes of rice, worth 2.02 billion USD, up 40.8% in volume and 49% in value over the same period in 2022. The price of Vietnamese rice for export has continuously increased since the beginning of the year to the highest in the past 10 years, at an average of 517 USD per tonne. Notably, Vietnamese rice exports have penetrated into many EU markets with high requirements on standards and quality, taking advantage of new-generation free trade agreements such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA)  and the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA). Vietnam's rice sector will also increase exports of high-quality rice. Specifically, between 2023 and 2025, the proportion of low- and medium-grade white rice will not exceed 15%; high-grade white rice will account for about 20%; fragrant rice, japonica rice and specialty rice 40%; and sticky rice at 20%. Rice products with high added value such as nutritious rice, parboiled rice, organic rice, rice flour, rice-processed products, rice bran and some other rice byproducts were at 5%, while brand name rice was at 20%.

Focus on consumption of main crop products

Currently, many agricultural products are in the harvest season. In order to improve the value of items, as well as contribute to the total trade balance, stakeholders have implemented solutions to diversify the market, connect with distribution systems, as well as promote exports. Tran Quang Tan, Director of the Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade, said that the province's lychee output in 2023 was over 180,000 tonnes, the lychee harvest is from May 25 to July 30, so the locality is focused on supporting businesses and people to harvest as well as connect to distribution systems. According to the representative of the Vietnam Trade Office in Singapore, in terms of quality and appearance, Vietnamese lychee and longan have beautiful appearance, thin skin and are sweeter than the same fruits of other competitors. Currently, Vietnamese lychee and longan are exported to many high-demand markets such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Australia among others. With such a brand and potential, Vietnamese fresh lychee and longan still have a lot of room in the Singapore market. However, the requirements of these export markets are increasingly strict, especially requirements on food safety, emission standards and others. In the context of many difficulties ahead, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai suggested relevant ministries and branches coordinate with localities and businesses to collect key market information and create favorable conditions for the export activities in the short term./.