Over the past few days, on average, more than 1,000 trucks carrying import and export goods have been cleared daily at the border gates in Lang Son Province, facilitating trade between Vietnam and China.
A series of workshops and seminars on the potential for promoting economic cooperation between Vietnam and the Umbria region, along with trade and investment promotion events, were hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy on April 14 – 16.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), on December 13, in Can Tho City, coordinated with the People's Committee of Can Tho City to organize a conference on "Credit solutions to promote the purchase, consumption, and export of key agricultural products in the Mekong Delta".
Oxfam and the Vietnam Chamber of Trade and Industry (VCCI), on the morning of May 6 in Hanoi, jointly organized a seminar to kick off the project of strengthening export capacity for small and medium-sized enterprises in the sector of Vietnamese spices and vegetables.
The office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), on May 4, informed that the total import and export turnover of agro-forestry-fishery products was estimated at US$31.8 billion, up 7 percent compared to the first four months of 2021. Of which, Vietnam saw a surplus of nearly $4 billion, 3.2 times higher than the same period last year.
The Mekong Delta is the main agricultural growing area of the country. However, the competitiveness of agricultural products in the region is being held back by many factors, including the burden of high and unreasonable logistics costs. The reason is that the expressway in the Mekong Delta is the lowest compared to the whole country. Although inland waterway transport plays a key role, there is a lack of investment, making logistics sluggish.
The main reason for the congestion of agricultural products at the Northern border gates has not been determined whether it was because China tightened Covid-19 prevention and control measures or applied strict technical measures on agricultural products exported from Vietnam.
Recently, the export of dragon fruits of Binh Thuan Province through the Chinese market encountered many difficulties because the Northern border gates constantly closed and stopped customs clearance. Currently, dragon fruits are difficult to sell, although the selling price is extremely low, only from VND500-VND2,000 per kg.
Before the Lunar New Year, many fruits and agricultural products exported to China were stuck at the border gates, with thousands of containers, and traders neglected to purchase them. However, just after the end of the Lunar New Year, fruit prices skyrocketed, benefiting businesses, which had had cold storage warehouses to store goods before.
The Covid-19 pandemic is developing complicatedly globally, but agricultural exports of Vietnam in the first six months of this year still exceed the set plan.
The price of Japanese purple sweet potatoes in Vinh Long and Dong Thap provinces had just increased from VND40,000-VND50,000 per quintal to about VND200,000 per quintal, but in the past few days, it has dropped to about VND100,000 per quintal due to the difficult export situation.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the demand for Halal food in the world is increasing, not only among the Islamic community but also non-Muslims. The current global trade in Halal food is estimated at US$80 billion, accounting for about 12 percent of all global trade in agricultural and food products. This brings promising opportunities for enterprises importing and exporting agricultural products and foods in Vietnam.
Vietnamese agricultural products are exported to many countries, with an average turnover of more than US$3 billion per year. However, Vietnamese agricultural products have not yet brought into play their strengths to compete with many other countries, due to high logistics costs. To reduce costs, each production region needs to build a logistics center to increase competitiveness and improve product quality.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development sets a target of earning US$50 – 51 billion in export value of agro-forestry and fishery products by 2025 and $60 – 62 billion by 2030.
With the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), member countries in the region, like Vietnam, will have more convenient transportation. The RCEP is expected to increase the export value of Vietnam's agriculture, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, thanks to the reduction in storage and logistics costs.
Five months after the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) took effect, many agricultural export products increased in both volume and value. However, some key export products of Vietnam have not taken advantage of the EVFTA yet, such as cashew, honey, and sugarcane industries.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), after implementing the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement for two months, the export of agricultural products to the EU has seen positive changes with the total agricultural export value from August 1 to the end of September estimated at US$711 million.
The market of countries in the ASEAN currently is the fourth largest industrial trade partner of Vietnam after China, the US, and South Korea. Despite many incentives, enterprises have not focused on exploiting this market to promote exports.
