Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), told the media on Thursday that they had completed procedures for officially exporting longans to Japan, sweet potatoes to China and limes and grapefruits to New Zealand.
"After facing big difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, this is a big step in our integration into the global market," Trung said. "Those three markets are among the world's most demanding, but they have lots of potential."
Longan exported to Japan
China also earlier announced that it allowed the official import of Vietnam’s durians and the pilot import of Vietnamese passion fruit. The two sides also signed a protocol on quarantine requirements for fresh bananas, creating favourable conditions for Vietnam to export fresh bananas to China in the coming time.
“The opening of official export channels will help create a transparently legal base for Vietnamese agricultural products in international markets," Trung stressed. "This will also motivate local farmers to invest more and expand their farming activities."
MARD said that they were accelerating export activities in the fourth quarter by focusing on deep processing, high quality and key markets in order to realise the full-year export target of USD 55 billion.
Data released by the ministry shows that Vietnam exported USD 40.80 billion worth of farming produce in the first nine months of 2022, up 15.20 percent year on year. The seven commodities with revenue exceeding USD 2 billion were seafood, coffee, rice, rubber, fruits and vegetables, cashew nuts, and timber and timber products.
For fruits and vegetables, the nine-month revenue dropped by 11 percent to USD 2.45 billion as exports to China fell by a sharp 30.50 percent from the same period last year to about USD 1.06 billion. As such, the sector is racing against time to fulfil the target of USD 3.20 billion for 2022.
According to Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Dang Phuc Nguyen, it was good news that the first batches of Vietnamese durian have been exported to China via official channels following an agreement between MARD and China’s customs agency.
