Lychees for exports (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – With the positiveoutcomes from 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, Vietnam is likely to gross 10billion USD from exporting fruits and vegetables in the foreseeable future,according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le QuocDoanh.
The Southeast Asian country earned a record 3.45billion USD from fruit and vegetable exports in 2017, a year-on-year rise of40.5 percent, much higher than traditional staples like rice, crude oil andcoffee.
In January-March this year, Vietnam raked in 960million USD from fruit and vegetable exports, up 35.6 percent against the sameperiod last year.
Doanh said the country is shifting ineffectiverice cultivation areas to grow fruits under the national agriculturalrestructuring programme.
Provinces in the Mekong Delta region such asTien Giang, Dong Thap and Can Tho have zoned off large areas for growingfruits, he added.
Furthermore, most farmers in the region areaware of the importance of clean production.
Businesses are investing in technology toincrease the quality of products for exports.
Dinh Kim Nhung, director of Kim Nhung ProduceTrading Limited Company based in the Mekong Delta, said apart from China, hercompany is exporting mangoes to the Republic of Korea and Japan.
However, these choosy markets require highertechnical procedures, so her business has to invest in processing andirradiation treatment for mangoes, she noted.
Nguyen Ba Tuong, owner of Ba Tuong orchard, inCai Be district, Tien Giang province, shared that there are still manypotential markets in the Middle East. They are willing to pay more to buyVietnamese fruits such as guavas, dragon fruits, star apples and longans, hesaid.
Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have been soldacross 60 markets worldwide.-VNA
VNA
