Hanoi (VNA)- Asia and Europe are important markets for Vietnamese fruits and vegetableexports and imports, and flowers could be next, experts said at a seminar on “Fruit,vegetable and flower exports - New movements in Asian and European markets” inHanoi on October 24.

Statistics released atthe seminar showed that Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports grew from 829million USD in 2012 to 1.47 billion USD in 2014, and to 2.4 billion USD in 2016before reaching a record of 3.86 billion USD last year, surpassing many otheragricultural products.

By negotiating andsigning 16 free trade agreements, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement(EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) in June, manyopportunities are opening for the export of agricultural, forestry and fisheryproducts, including fruits and vegetables, said Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy GeneralDirector  of the Agro Processing andMarket Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.

This will be a goodopportunity for the expansion of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export marketsin the global production, processing and supply chain, he said.

To seize thisopportunity, the whole industry needs to change its perception, actively seekdirections to be able to integrate and better meet market regulations,improving the status of Vietnamese agricultural products, Hoa said.

To achieve this,companies must equip themselves with market knowledge, updated technology,improve product quality and network with global supply chains, he added.

Le Thi Mai Anh, arepresentative from the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, said fruit and vegetable exports of Vietnam to Asianmarkets made up 85 percent of total export turnover, including top Asianmarkets such as China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

On the advantages ofexporting to Asian markets, Anh emphasised the geographical location whichshortened time for transport. She also said Asian markets had a largepopulation scale with high market demand and similar consumption habits.

Regarding difficulties,she mentioned strict regulations on hygiene and food safety standards, andcomplicated risk assessment processes.

Other difficultiesincluded weak competitive capacity and quality of Vietnamese fruit andvegetables; and limited knowledge on foreign markets.

Vietnam’s fruit andvegetable sector achieved a trade surplus of 1.4 billion USD in the first ninemonths of this year with export revenue of 2.8 billion USD, reported the VietnamFruit and Vegetable Association.

The export revenue inthe nine months dropped 5 percent compared to the same period last year, whilethe import revenue rose 7 percent./.