Vietnam’s exports of vegetables and fruits in 2014 posted a dramatic revenue growth of 40 percent to 1.47 billion USD, 90 percent of which were contributed by fruits, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh announced on December 30.

During the year, Vietnam saw a recovery in many import markets, he said, adding that the country also succeeded in winning contracts with partners in several choosy markets like the US, New Zealand, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

Along with efforts to expand markets, attention should be still paid to traditional ones like China and those opening their door to Vietnamese products, the official stated.

He suggested bettering production, processing and preservation to raise the quality of products and their added value.

Deputy head of the Plant Protection Department Hoang Trung said that the office is exerting efforts to deal with quarantine barriers facing several kinds of vegetables and fruits. Accordingly, it continues providing guidance for localities and businesses on the export of litchi, longan to the US, mango to Japan and dragon fruit, litchi and mango to New Zealand.

During January-November, 1.5 million tonnes of export fruits were quarantined, including 700,000 tonnes of fresh dragon fruits, 150,000 tonnes of longan and over 70,000 tonnes of litchi.-VNA