Vietnamplus

Vietnam exported more than 600,000 tonnes of mangoes worth 310 million USD to 53 countries and territories last year, up by almost half from 2020.

More than 20 tonnes of canned lychee from Vietnam has hit the shelves of supermarkets in France for the first time, according to the trade office of Vietnam in the European country.

European consumers have been increasingly interested in tropical fruits, especially healthy ones with novel taste, according to the Vietnamese Trade Office in Belgium and the EU.

“Thieu” lychees from Vietnam have hit the shelves of Carrefour Tongre supermarkets in Brussels, Belgium, since June 23 thanks to efforts of the Vinamex company and partners in bringing the Vietnamese specialty fruit to Europe to utilise the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

A year after Japan first opened its market to Vietnamese lychees, the export and consumption of the fruit have been going smoothly despite COVID-19, Vietnam’s trade office in the Northeast Asian country said.

The export of Vietnamese farm produce such as aquatic products, pepper, rubber, and rice to the Netherlands has soared since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has reported.

In the first 11 months of this year dragon fruit exports fell by 10 percent because of the COVID-19 pandemic but still dominated Vietnamese fruit exports with shipments of more than 1 billion USD.

A ceremony was held in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre on September 17 to announce the first shipment of its fruit to the EU under the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Vietnam and China should extend the working hours for customs clearance at border gates and restore cross-border trade at markets along the border, Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Asia-Africa Market Department, told an online meeting on August 13.

Vietnam earned nearly 2 billion USD from fruit and vegetable exports in the first seven months of this year, down 12.3 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Foreign countries tightening import regulations would affect Vietnam's exports of farming products, especially fruits, forcing the local agricultural industry to re-organise production, according to experts.

Vietnam has so far granted licences to 460 US producers of meat and meat products and 210 exporters of aquatic products, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh.

Five tonnes of Vietnam’s red flesh dragon fruit were recently shipped to Australia in a bid to seek new markets for Vietnamese fruit exports amid difficulties stemming from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Longan has become the fourth kind of Vietnamese fruit to be exported to Australia after litchi, mango and dragon fruit. However, experts say there is still a lot of work needed for Vietnam to secure a firm foothold in the market.

Asia and Europe are important markets for Vietnamese fruits and vegetable exports and imports, and flowers could be next, experts said at a seminar on “Fruit, vegetable and flower exports - New movements in Asian and European markets” in Hanoi on October 24.

Post-harvest technology in fruit sector in Vietnam sees several weaknesses which not only effect to the quality of the fruits, but also to export prices.

The total value of Vietnamese fruit market is estimated at 20 to 30 billion USD. However, this thriving market seems to be neglected by agro firms, while there have been more and more imported fruits

Northern Son La province launched ‘Son La Longan and Safe Farm Produce Week 2019’ at Big C Thang Long, Hanoi, on July 19.

The 15th Southern Fruit Festival will take place from June 1-August 31 in Ho Chi Minh City, said the HCM City Tourism Department.

The Red River delta province of Hung Yen opened the Longan Festival 2018 on August 11 to popularize the trademark and honour the provincial specialty product.