Bac Giang to export half of lychee output

Bac Giang (VNA) – The northern province of Bac Giang, a lychee farming hub of Vietnam, plans to export about 50,000 tonnes of “thieu” lychee, or 50 percent of its total output, in 2017, local officials said at a meeting on May 27.

The event, aimed to promote lychee sales, was attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh, representatives of the northern border provinces of Lang Son and Lao Cai, officials of Chinese localities importing lychees, and domestic and foreign lychee traders.

Vice Chairman of the Bac Giang People’s Committee Duong Van Thai said this year, the province continues to focus its lychee export to traditional markets, especially China. It will increase the export volume to the US, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia while expanding shipments to the Middle East, Thailand and Canada.

In the domestic market, the fruit will be sold mainly in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and nearby provinces.

However, he noted, abnormal weather conditions like prolonged heat waves and late cold spells affected the growth of lychee trees, making the rate of fruits fall by about 40 percent from 2016 to some 100,000 tonnes.

The output of lychees under VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards in the province is about 40,000 tonnes and 1,600 tonnes, respectively. Notably, there have been 218ha of lychee trees granted codes by the US, Thai added.

At the meeting, officials of Lang Son and Lao Cai provinces, which border China, pledged the best possible conditions for Bac Giang’s lychee export to China. They promised the customs clearance time will be within 20 minutes.

Fang Dong, deputy head of Hekou county in China’s Yunnan province, spoke highly of the quality and appearance of Bac Giang’s lychees, which have become popular among Chinese consumers.

Bac Giang officials also vowed to give favourable conditions and ensure security for traders to purchase and process the local lychees.-VNA