MARD in collaboration with Nong thon ngay nay (Countryside Today) newspaper organised an online seminar on opening the agricultural market. (Photo baochinhphu.vn) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) incollaboration with Nong thon ngay nay (CountrysideToday) newspaper organised an online seminar on opening the agricultural market onDecember 13.
Many kinds of agricultural products have been accepted byfastidious markets thanks to the effective coordination of MARD withministries, agencies and enterprises.
Accordingly, MARD and the General Administration of Customs of thePeople’s Republic of China have successively signed protocols to officiallyexport many kinds of agricultural products to China, such as passionfruit, banana, durian, sweet potato, and bird’s nests.
Recently, the US officially opened the door to Vietnam's pomelo;longan and macadamia nuts are also allowed to be exported to Japan; New Zealandopens the door to Vietnam's green lemons; meanwhile, many kinds of high-qualityVietnamese rice have appeared in supermarkets of the US, the EU, and Japan.
The results of opening the market have contributed to helping Vietnam'sagricultural, forestry and fishery exports reach about 49.04 billion USD in thefirst 11 months of this year, up 11.8% over the same period last year.
Delegates at the seminar strongly agreed that market opening hasbeen a crucial factor in the growth of the agricultural sector. However, theyalso noted that maintaining and sustainably developing the market is an evengreater challenge.
This required each farmer and business to make efforts to changetheir production thinking, and meet the requirements of each market.
Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of SPS Vietnam Office at MARD, saidthat in order to open the market, it was necessary to strengthen links not onlywith farmers but also with industries and businesses.
To date, Vietnam has signed 18 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), manyof which are associated with major markets such as the US, the EU, and Japan.
Sharing about the market's difficulties and opportunities forseafood next year, Le Hang, communications director of the Vietnam Associationof Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that seafood exports hadslowed since the fourth quarter of this year, this trend might extend to thefirst quarter, even the first half of next year due to high and prolongedinflation, along with changes in consumer preferences and habits.
Consumers have no longer focused on high-value products as before,but they preferred mid-priced products, she said.
Therefore, the number of orders would decrease deeply, and evensome small businesses would not have orders, said Hang.
"When traditional markets such as the EU, the US, and Japanhave big changes in consumer preferences and demand for Vietnamese seafoodproducts, we determine that the Chinese market will be a potential market,” sheadded.
Accordingly, there would have to be preparations and changes togain deeper access to the Chinese market, each segment of the local markets inthe Chinese market, noted Hang./.
VNA
