The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has reported that Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports to Thailand in the first seven months of this year have sharply surged.
Between January and July, Vietnam earned nearly USD2 billion from fruit and vegetable exports, down 12.3% on-year.
Fruit and vegetable exports to Thailand surges despite pandemic.
China was the leading buyer of Vietnamese fruit and vegetables in the period, accounting for 59%, but exports to the market fell by some 29%. Shipments to Singapore also dropped by nearly 1%.
Vietnam recorded higher fruit and vegetable exports to most of the remaining markets, including South Korea (up 25.5%), Thailand (234%), the US (10%), and Japan (13%).
However, during the period, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export to Thailand was estimated at USD79 million, up 234% on-year.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that supermarkets operated by Thailand’s Central Group in Vietnam have intensified the purchase of Vietnamese fruit and vegetables for the distribution in its supermarkets in Thailand.
Meanwhile, the Thai market’s vegetable and fruit importing standards are not as strict as the EU and the US. Instead, the products only need to meet Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGap) standards.
In the first half of this year, Chanh Thu Fruit Import & Export Co., Ltd only exported durians worth a total USD4 million to Thailand.