Vietnam's fruit and vegetable industry aims to reach $4 billion in exports by 2023

As one of the few sectors showing growth momentum in terms of exports in the first quarter of 2023, Vietnam's vegetables and fruits exports are expected to reach $4 billion this year.

Mr. Deng Fu Yuan, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said at the trade promotion handover meeting of the Vietnam Commercial Department Abroad in March 2023 that in the first three months of 2023, Vietnam's vegetable and fruit exports reached nearly 1 billion US dollars, an increase of 8% year-on-year. Among them, China's market growth is very impressive, reaching 23%.

According to the head of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, this achievement was made possible by the signing of a protocol with China in 2022 on the export of Vietnamese agricultural products such as bananas, durians and sweet potatoes to China in a normal trade manner. In addition, the successful export of pomelo to the United States and lemon to New Zealand also led to the growth of fruit and vegetable exports.

Durian is the commodity that contributed greatly to the fruit and vegetable industry's impressive export performance in the first three months of this year. Durian generated about $420 million in revenue for the industry in the fourth quarter of 2022 alone. This year, if conditions are favorable, durian exports are expected to reach about $1 billion, driving the industry's exports to $4 billion, an increase of about 20 percent.

The effective implementation of various free trade agreements is also an important driving force to promote Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports in the first few months of this year, making an important contribution to the export of the industry for the whole year.

Fruits and vegetables are an underexploited industry with huge export potential. Therefore, the representative of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other departments, especially the Economic and Commercial Office of the Vietnamese Embassy in China, cooperate in the study of signing more protocols for the export of some agricultural products such as dragon fruit, mango, watermelon, pineapple and rambuodan through normal trade channels. At the same time, it is suggested that China open its market for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products such as green pomelo, coconut, cream fruit, lemon, pineapple and gold star fruit.

Besides the Chinese market, other markets such as the United States, Japan, South Korea and Australia also need to intensify activities to open markets for Viet Nam's superior products.

In addition, the leaders of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association also suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and related ministries and agencies should strengthen investment, invest advanced technology for fruit and vegetable processing enterprises, further increase export value, and effectively enter the harsh markets such as the United States and the European Union. Vietnamese Commercial offices abroad hold Vietnam Fruit festivals to promote Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry, food culture and tourism to international friends.