Lychee is one of the Vientamese fruits besides dragon fruit, mango, and longan is allowed to be exported to Thailand (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese fruit andvegetable exporters are seeking to make inroads into Thailand amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Vietnam Fruit &Vegetable Association (VinaFruit), exports to the US, Thailand and Africa saw positivesigns last year.
Vietnam exported 74.94 million USD worth offruits and vegetables to Thailand in 2019, up 66.3 percent compared to theprevious year.
Secretary General of VinaFruit Dang PhucNguyen suggested that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development should negotiatewith the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives to balance trade forfruits and vegetables because Vietnam has long been running a trade deficit forfarm produce from Thailand.
The ministry should ask Thailand to expandthe list of fruits for importing from Vietnam, he recommended.
Businesses are advised to study the marketthoroughly while proactively seeking customers and expanding trade links.
According to the Vietnamese Trade Office inThailand, Thailand spends over 1 billion USD annually to import fresh fruitsand 600 million USD to buy vegetables.
In the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN), Thailand is the biggest importer of farm produce, especiallyVietnamese fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We should consider Thailand a tradepartner instead of a competitive opponent,” said Vietnamese Trade Counsellor inThailand Tran Thi Thanh My.
Vietnam has exported a large amount of farmproduce to the market, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, she said.
She cited statistics from Thai Customs assaying that Vietnam makes up90 percent of Thailand’sdragon fruit imports.
So far, Thailand has only allowed importsof Vietnamese dragon fruit, mango, longan, and lychee.
There are still enormous opportunities for Vietnamto increase exports of other farm produce, she added.
Meanwhile, Vice President of Thailand’sCentral Retail Paul Le said Vietnam has a lot of tasty fruits.
The company wants to boost imports ofVietnamese fresh fruits and vegetables, especially lychees.
The Vietnamese goods week is held in Thailandannually to help Vietnamese firms to study the market and local customers’demand, he said.
He added that the large overseas Vietnamesecommunity in Thailand isalso an advantage Vietnam can use to penetrate the market./.
VNA
