Trade promotion activities from now to the end of this year will prioritise exploring more foreign markets for local farm produce, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has confirmed.

This year, the ministry has approved 19 trade promotion projects for the agro-forestry-fisheries sector, with a total budget of 25.64 billion VND (1.2 million USD), or 36.6 percent of the budget allocated for the national programme.

Several of the projects were successfully realised over the past five months, bringing local enterprises to the Seafood Expo North America, the Seafood Expo Global, the International Japan Food and Beverage Exhibition, and the International Coffee and Tea Festival in Dubai, where they won deals worth tens of millions USD.

The southern province of Dong Nai is one of the localities that have proactively sought to sell its agricultural products, like cocoa, coffee, and cashew nuts globally.

The new markets, including Dubai, the Republic of Korea and Africa, look very promising for the province.

In the first half of this year, Dong Nai exported nearly 130,000 tonnes of coffee for 276 million USD, up 33 percent in volume and 30.3 percent in value against the same period last year.

Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said over the past time, the national trade promotion programme has enabled businesses to extend their reach into the new markets in the Latin America and Africa while widening their presence in traditional ones like the US, the European Union, Japan, China, and Russia.

The programme has also supported the businesses in investment attraction, as well as technology and production renovation.-VNA