Vietnam spends 1.57 billion USD on fruit, vegetables in 11 months

Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam spent 1.57 billion USD on importing fruit and vegetables in the first 11 months of this year, up 11.5 percent from the same period in 2017, according to statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Thailand is the top exporter of fruit and vegetable to Vietnam, accounting for 41 percent of Vietnam’s total import of the products. China followed with 24 percent of market share.

According to head of the MARD’s Plant Protection Department Hoang Trung, a large volume of fruits imported from Thailand are re-exported to China, mostly durian, mangosteen and longan.

Shipments from several markets showed strong surges, such as Chile with a 98 percent increase, the US (90 percent) and the Republic of Korea (83 percent).

Meanwhile, the export of fruit and vegetables in the 11-month period also went up 11.6 percent on a yearly basis to 3.5 billion USD, with 73.8 percent of export volume going to China.

At present, 80 percent of Vietnam’s fruit outputs are consumed in the domestic market, mainly in the form of fresh fruits. Few enterprises have invested in fruit processing, due to the lack of concentrated growing areas that can ensure stable supply of big amounts of raw materials.-VNA