The RoK’s farm produce import has soared in recent years, reaching 35.2 billionUSD last year.
He noted, however, that export of Vietnamese farm produce to the RoK marketremained very modest at about 2.14 billion USD, he said.
Hung spoke at an Export Forum held on the sidelines of the second InternationalExhibition & Conference for Horticultural and Floricultural Production andProcessing Technology (Hortex Vietnam), which opened in HCM City on March 13.
Vietnam’s main agricultural and aquaculture products exported to the marketinclude coffee beans, banana, chili, garlic, dragon fruit, mango, rice, shrimpand fish filets.
“Currently, the RoK market has allowed the import of coconut, banana, mango anddragon fruits from Vietnam. The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development(MARD) has worked with the Korean side to open the door for Vietnamese starapple, pomelo, rambutan, longan and litchi to enter the market,” he said.
Hung noted that Japan is the world’s fourth largest farm produce importer, withimport revenue worth 57.8 billion USD last year.
But like the Korean market, the export of Vietnamese farm produce to Japan isstill low. Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit exports to the market fetch 2.5million USD and 36.4 million USD, respectively, accounting for 1.3 percent and1.1 percent of its total imports, he said.
Japan has opened its market for Vietnamese dragon fruit (white and red flesh),mango and banana, Hung said, adding that MARD is in the process of getting apermit to export litchi, longan and star apple to the market.
Free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed with the two countries offeradvantages for domestic firms to boost exports. But the two markets haveapplied strict quarantine regulations, causing difficulties for firms to boostexports to these markets.
He suggested that local fruits and vegetable producers focus more on applyinggood agricultural practices and technologies, and study the markets carefullyso that more Vietnamese fruits and vegetables can enter the markets.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and VegetableAssociation, said that Vietnam earned 3.8 billion USD last year from fruit andvegetable exports, a year-on-year increase of 7.9 percent.
Vietnamese fruits and vegetables were exported to more than 60 countries andterritories, with China, the US, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the Netherlands,Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia among the biggest importers.
The Government expected export revenue to reach 4.5 billion USD this year and 5billion USD in 2020 due to an increasing consumption demand both at home andabroad, he said.-VNS/VNA