Fresh vegetables and fruits find their way into Thailand

Facing export difficulties caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, Vietnam has made efforts to expand the market, many businesses target the Thai market with great demand for fresh fruits and vegetables.

Open a new export direction

In the context that Covid-19 epidemic is taking place globally, Vietnamese agricultural products and fruits are also affected and even miserable because of dependence on the Chinese market.

Statistics of the General Department of Customs show that, since the beginning of the year, Vietnam’s agricultural and fruit export to China has dropped by nearly 13% and is still facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to the Vietnam Vegetable and Fruit Association (VinaFruit), in 2019, vegetable and fruit export to the US, Thailand, and Africa has shown positive signs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In particular, in the US market, for the first time, Vietnam’s mangoes have met the standards for export. As for Africa, import demand is also increasing, the requirements for commodity standards are quite easy compared to other regions.

Especially, with Thailand market, Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit export reached 74.94 million USD, up to 66.3% compared to the previous year. Therefore, businesses (DN), manufacturers of vegetables and fruits of Vietnam are trying to find ways to expand the market.

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, VinaFruit Secretary General said: “Each month Vietnamese vegetables and fruits exported to China on average about 200 million USD. However, at present, this market is declining, so it is necessary to seek new markets to free our agricultural and fruit products ”.

According to Nguyen, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also needs to negotiate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Thai Cooperatives to balance trade with vegetables and fruits, as Vietnam has been in a long-term trade deficit with agricultural products from Thailand.

At the same time, it is required that Thailand expand more potential fruit products of Vietnam, not only accept the current import license of our four fruits.

Also recommended by Mr. Nguyen, businesses need to have access to these markets through market surveys, market research or participation in specialized conferences and exhibitions to find customers.

Through this, domestic businesses will have the opportunity to meet directly with international purchasing delegations, establish business relations to expand export markets. This is also one of the bridges to help businesses, cooperatives and farmers to access new technologies and seed sources.

Mr. Le Trung Kien, Director of Tuan Phong International Transport Co., Ltd shared: “Not only with fresh fruits, Thailand also has a huge import demand for vegetables because they cannot produce or produce very little like carrots, potatoes and many herbs …

Therefore, we are preparing a source of quality vegetables and fruits to export to this market right after the Covid-19 epidemic.

According to export enterprises, Thailand attracts a lot of tourists, this is also a great source of agricultural products and also tourists are ambassadors who help promote the brand of fruit products, Vietnamese vegetables and fruits travel across the country.

In addition, Thailand is considered to be the processing center of the region, so it will need to diversify its sources of raw materials for processing, including imported fruits.

Turn difficulties into advantages

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Thailand, every year, Thailand spends more than US $ 1 billion on fresh fruits and US $ 600 million on vegetables. Within ASEAN, Thailand is the leading market for agricultural imports, especially Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables.

Ms. Tran Thi Thanh My, Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Thailand said: “We should consider Thailand as a trading partner instead of a competitor. Vietnam is exporting many good agricultural products, especially fresh fruits and vegetables to Thailand. Specifically, according to the statistics of Thai Customs, Vietnam accounts for 90% of imported dragon fruits of this country”.

According to Ms. My, Thailand has only officially granted permission for four Vietnamese fruits, namely dragon fruit, mango, longan and lychee, to export into the country, so there are still many opportunities to increase exports many other agricultural products.

Mr. Paul Le, Vice President of Central Retail Group of Thailand said that Vietnam with the advantage of having many delicious and quality fruits will completely meet the requirements of Thailand. “We really want to boost the import of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, especially lychee into Thailand”.

Therefore, every year, Central Retail organizes the program “Vietnam Week in Thailand” to support Vietnamese businesses to understand the markets and tastes of Thai consumers to meet export sources,”he said. Paul Le said.

According to Mr. Paul Le, Vietnam has a great export advantage to Thailand when the large overseas Vietnamese community is living in this country. Among them, many people own supermarkets, distribution stores and supply of goods, which is a favorable condition to market Vietnamese agricultural products to the Thai people.

Sources: https://nongnghiep.vn