Chile's export sector enthusiastically welcomed the announcement of the opening of the Vietnamese market to Chilean cherries. “We must continue opening new markets for our products, it is very important that we continue to expand our borders to be increasingly more competitive in international markets. This opening in Vietnam is part of the strategy we are implementing to expand the portfolio of our markets in case there are problems in any of our destinations due to the pandemic, ”said the Chilean Minister of Agriculture, Antonio Walker.
“Furthermore, these negotiations that we have carried out together with the private sector will allow us to continue increasing our presence in the world. We believe that Southeast Asia is very important to us, as there are close to 600 million people in that region willing to purchase Chilean products and Vietnam is one of its most relevant markets for us,” Walker added.
The president of the Association of Fruit Exporters of Chile AG (ASOEX), Ronald Bown, also highlighted the opening. “This is very good news, it means having a new market for cherry exports, especially considering that this sector's volumes are increasing. The harvests will begin at the end of October, so this opening comes at a very good time. We are defining, together with the Cherry Committee of ASOEX and ProChile, what promotional actions to implement to support the entry of this fruit to the market," he said.
“During the past season, Chile exported 228,586 tons of cherries. Nearly 90% of this amount was destined for China. Thus, diversifying our exports within Asia, as is happening with the opening of Vietnam, is relevant for us. In addition, this is a market that consumes a lot of imported fruits, especially high-quality products like our cherries,” Bown said.
Parallel to the opening of the Vietnamese market to Chilean cherries, Chile authorized the importation of Vietnamese grapefruits. It's also worth mentioning that, in the middle of last August, the first shipment of Chilean apples arrived in Vietnam.
Source: simfruit.cl