Agricultures, Foods, News & Event
Pillar of the economy
In the context of many difficulties and challenges, the agricultural economy continues to affirm its important position and is the pillar of the economy when the export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in 2023 reaches over 53 billion USD, highest level in recent years.
Export turnover reached over 53 billion USD
Assessing the export picture of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in 2023, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that 2023 is a particularly difficult year for the agricultural sector. , not only Vietnam but many countries. Along with that, economic fluctuations also cause many markets to reduce imports. In the context of many difficulties and challenges, especially in the export market of forestry and aquatic products, in 2023 GDP growth of the entire agricultural sector is estimated to reach 3.83%, the highest in recent years. Among them, some export products increased at record highs such as: Vegetables and fruits increased by over 70%, rice increased by over 36%, this is the highest number ever. Previously, at the Global Rice Summit, ST25 rice was recognized as the best rice in the world. The fact that Vietnamese rice is once again honored with the highest award of a delicious rice contest is a good sign for the development of the Vietnamese rice brand, helping rice export activities – one of the strong products in the group. Agriculture, forestry and fisheries have more growth expectations in the coming time.
Along with rice, vegetables and fruits, cashew exports reached 3.31 billion USD, an increase of 17.4%. In particular, exports of cereal products reached 1.08 billion USD, an increase of 5.4%. Thus, up to now, the agricultural sector has 6 products/product groups with an export value of over 3 billion USD, including coffee (3.5 billion USD), rice (4.41 billion USD), vegetables and fruits (5.3 billion USD). USD), in which durian contributed more than 2 billion USD, cashew nuts (3.3 billion USD), shrimp (3.4 billion USD), wood and wood products (12 billion USD).
“With the results of the entire industry’s export turnover reaching over 53 billion USD, the industry’s trade surplus reached over 11 billion USD. This is the highest level in recent years and accounts for over 42.5% of the country’s trade surplus… This result shows that agriculture continues to affirm its important position, a pillar of the economy, ensuring sustainability. ensure food security, major balances of the economy and contribute to macroeconomic stability” – Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.
With the above results, according to Mr. Tien, the agricultural sector has made efforts to negotiate to remove technical and trade barriers and open official export markets to add more agricultural products to large and potential markets. To date, according to statistics, Vietnamese fruits and vegetables are exported to over 85 countries and territories, including markets requiring high quality such as the United States, EU, Japan, Australia, Korea and China.
Particularly in the Chinese market, Vietnam has 14 agricultural products officially exported to China, including: bird’s nest and products from bird’s nest, sweet potatoes, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, melon. watermelon, banana, mangosteen, black jelly, lychee, passion fruit and durian. These products have helped bring in billions of dollars in revenue, of which durian brought in up to 2.2 billion dollars.
Also according to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, in addition to the efforts of the authorities, the year 2023 will record the overcoming of difficulties from the business community. It is this effort to overcome difficulties that has created achievements in agricultural export. Reality shows that the resilience of businesses in recent times has been relatively good. Although the situation is difficult, with seafood and forestry products’ turnover decreasing by over 20%, businesses have found every way to open up the domestic market, taking advantage of every opportunity for export activities.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Viet Agricultural Product Processing and Export Joint Stock Company Nguyen Van Huynh said that, taking advantage of incentives from signed agreements, the company has promoted the export of fruits such as pineapple, baby melon, lychee… to EU, Asian markets and some countries: Russia, UAE, UK, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan…
“The enterprise’s goal in 2023 is to reach 4 million USD in exports. To date, the export value has reached 3 million USD. The business is preparing adequate supplies for foreign partners and completing its goals…” – Mr. Huynh shared.
Expand export market share
According to experts, the spectacular breakthrough in agricultural exports comes from clearly improved product quality, contributing to improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products in the world market. Meanwhile, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations also shows that the world is showing signs of food instability. Notably, 36 countries are on alert about food shortages, global food reserves are at the lowest level compared to the average reserve level of the past 25 years, while rice is considered the main food of the country. half of the world’s population, about 4 billion people. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural products to continue to accelerate in the coming time.
Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien – Director of the Center for Agricultural Trade Promotion (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), said that the opportunities and space for Vietnam’s agricultural and food exports in the coming time, especially in 2024, are very large.
Regarding the fruit and vegetable industry, Mr. Tien said that the room for Vietnamese vegetables and fruits to penetrate deeper into the Chinese market is still very large. The strong breakthrough of durian fruit and a number of key fruit products will be a catalyst and an important driving force for the country’s fruit and vegetable industry to realize its ambition of earning billions of dollars more, becoming “powerhouse” in fruit and vegetable export globally.
However, to concretize that ambition, these industries are required to make important “leaps”, especially compliance with quality standards, promoting trade activities and promoting trade. signal. This is also an important time for businesses in the fruit and vegetable industry to be aware of limitations to overcome in order to go far.
Reality shows that, not only waiting until 2024 but also in recent months, many Vietnamese agricultural products are in a state of being out of stock due to lack of supply such as rice, coffee, pepper, durian… since then. push prices up. The opportunity is great, but how to take advantage of this opportunity is also the question. Because in reality, businesses in Vietnam are facing many challenges both in terms of resources and raw materials.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also commented that Vietnam’s major markets are recovering strongly, which is an opportunity to maintain and gradually expand agricultural export market share from now until 2024. In addition, the loan program for With the disbursed credit capital of about 15,000 billion VND in the forestry and fisheries sectors, these two sectors will also rise and contribute positively to the export value of agricultural products in the coming time. However, to take advantage of the opportunity to accelerate agricultural exports, it is necessary to demonstrate to world consumers the outstanding quality of Vietnamese agricultural products, along with ensuring agricultural, forestry and aquatic product exports. Standardized and synchronized in quality, packaging, labeling, food safety and hygiene, traceability, with logo, trademark, national brand.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, it is expected that from now until the end of the year, we will have the opportunity to sign 4 protocols, with the prospect of 4 more products (medicinal herbs, coconuts, frozen fruits, watermelons) switching from traditional exports. to officially export to the Chinese market. Effective implementation of these protocols will have more opportunities to contribute to agricultural exports. “At the same time, in the sustainable development strategy, the agricultural sector still focuses on improving quality, increasing export processing, and proactively responding when the world market fluctuates” – Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.