The year 2024 is coming to an end, in which fruits and vegetables emerge as a bright spot in the agricultural export picture, with turnover for the first time possibly reaching over 7.2 billion USD.
Sharing with CAND Newspaper reporters on the afternoon of November 28, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen – General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT) said that, by the end of November 2024, the fruit and vegetable turnover is expected to reach 6.6 billion USD (up 27% over the same period and 900 million USD higher than the whole year of 2023); in December, the turnover is expected to reach 500-600 million USD.
Explaining why December only estimated to reach such a figure, Mr. Nguyen said that Vietnam’s durian in December is off-season, so there is little supply, so the turnover will not be high, but the fact that fruits and vegetables achieved this record turnover is largely thanks to durian exports. As of November, durian exports accounted for about 45% of the total fruit and vegetable export turnover of the whole country, with a value of 3.1 billion USD, an increase of more than 45% over the same period last year. This year, durian export turnover could reach 3.2 billion USD before the end of the year, affirming the position of this fruit in the global market.
According to Mr. Nguyen, fruits and vegetables are currently mainly consumed in the Northeast Asian market (Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.), of which China is the main market. The Northeast Asian market accounts for 77-80% of the turnover of the fruit and vegetable industry and this is a very important region for the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry.
Along with that, statistics from the General Department of Customs show that, by the end of October 2024, the export turnover of fruits and vegetables to the US market is estimated to reach nearly 287 million USD, a sharp increase of 35% over the same period last year, second only to China. Many Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products are increasingly popular in this market such as fresh coconut, grapefruit, dragon fruit, passion fruit… In addition, the export turnover of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to other major markets such as: Korea, Thailand, Japan, Australia, United Arab Emirates… all recorded positive growth. For example, with the Australian market, in October, the first 1.5 tons of passion fruit were exported to this market, opening up great opportunities for the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry to enter the market considered the most demanding in the world. According to Mr. Phan Quoc Nam, Sales Director of Blue Ocean Import-Export Trading Joint Stock Company (Blue Ocean JSC), in order for fresh passion fruit to be exported to Australia, it is necessary to establish a growing area, growing area code, and packaging facility code approved by the Plant Protection Department and have inspection and supervision from the partner. At the same time, the production stage must ensure the process, standards, and comply with biosecurity requirements.
Good signals from the import market, orders are increasingly expanding, which shows that Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products have established a foothold and affirmed their position in the international market. To achieve this result, Mr. Nguyen said that Vietnamese farmers have approached digital transformation quickly and receptively, with the support of authorities in supporting cultivation, complying with regulations, meeting the requirements of the import market, so product quality is guaranteed; along with that, the coordination between farmers and businesses is also more professional, creating quality growing areas. Mr. Nguyen also said that with the current growth rate, by 2025, the export turnover of fruits and vegetables can be expected to reach 8 billion USD. The opportunity is huge, but Mr. Nguyen advised people, in addition to increasing output, to maintain quality. “If we have quality, we are not afraid of not having a place to sell,” said Mr. Nguyen.
To affirm its position and continue to develop the export market, experts say that Vietnam needs to focus on building and managing good growing areas to create raw material areas that meet sustainable export standards and control harvesting. At the same time, updating technical requirements from importers will help Vietnamese fruits and vegetables penetrate large markets and expand the export market.
Source: https://cand.com.vn/kinh-te/rau-qua-viet-nam-da-co-cho-dung-tren-thi-truong-quoc-te-i751751/