Vietnamplus

Timothy Westbrook, an expert from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has completed his COVID-19 quarantined period and began his task at the HCM City-based Son Son irradiation centre.

Various types of Vietnamese fruit have already benefited from the EVFTA coming into effect recently.

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).

Exports of fruits through border gates with China in the northern province of Lao Cai posted growth in the first half of 2020 despite COVID-19, according to the provincial Department of Customs.

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.

Northern Hai Duong province has exported its first batch of lychee to Japan, with the Ameii Vietnam Joint Stock Company sending some 1.2 tonnes to the country by air.

Exports of vegetable and fruits fetched more than 1.5 billion USD in the first six months of the year, a year-on-year decline of 14.5 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

With Vietnam’s main agro-forestry-fishery export markets after China such as the US and Europe being hit by the new coronavirus-caused acute respiratory disease (COVID-19), Vietnamese exporters are suffering.

Thailand’s fruit exporters are hoping that the negative effects of the acute respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) will soon be over.

The Vietnam Flour Corporation (Vikybomi) has created new food products made from wheat flour and farm produce such as dragon fruit and watermelon amid a reduction in fruit exports to China.

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).

With a growing middle class and high GDP growth, Vietnam has become an ideal market for foreign fruit exporters, experts have said.

The export value of fruit and vegetables in the January-November period saw a slight decrease of 0.6 percent year on year to 3.5 billion USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnamese agriculture officials made fruits a key export product as it can bring eight or nine times more in value compare to rice production.

Earnings from vegetable and fruit exports to China, Vietnam’s largest market, stood at 144.2 million USD in July, a year-on-year drop of 44.2 percent, statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed.

With good results seen in the first seven months of this year, experts forecast that the revenue target of 4.2 billion USD in vegetable and fruit exports for 2019 is reachable.

The export value of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits is estimated at 269 million USD in July, bringing the total turnover in the first seven months of 2019 to 2.31 billion USD, down 0.8 percent year on year.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) not only opens the door wide for Vietnam's agro-forestry-aquaculture exports, but also promotes the country's agricultural sector to improve its competitiveness, according to experts.

Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce has reported that the country’s exports of fruits and vegetable to China surged 31 percent in the January-May period to 1.2 billion USD.

Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit export value hit 2.06 billion USD in the first six months of 2019, up 3.9 percent year-on-year, said the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.