Produce exports to top $4 billion in Vietnam this year

Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports reached $1.32 billion in the first four months of the year, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. This is the first time fruit and vegetable’s trade value surpassed that of oil.

With a high export growth rate in the past four years, the sector is expected to surpass the export target of $4 billion set this year.

Vietnam was recently officially allowed to export fresh rambutan to New Zealand after seven years of negotiations, opening opportunity for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to tap other strict markets in the world. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyễn Xuân Cường said global trade for fruits and vegetables was worth $230 billion a year with an annual growth rate of 3-5 percent per year, but there is still more room for Vietnam to boost fruit and vegetable exports.

However, vietnamnews.vn describes how, despite achieving impressive results in export, the sector has encountered risks since it has relied too much on the Chinese market, according to experts. In the past years, China has been Vietnam’s biggest fruit and vegetable importer. In the first four months of the year, exports to China accounted for 77 percent of the country’s fruit and vegetable exports, with the US ranking second (accounting for 2.84 percent) and Japan third (2.7 percent).