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Workers stack durians onto a truck for transportation in Da Huoai district of Lam Dong province. (Photo: VNA) |
Vietnam exported nearly US$1 billion worth of fruits and vegetables in Q1, rising 7 percent from a year earlier, reported the Center for Digital Transformation and Statistics under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit Association (Vinafruit), said thanks to high demand in China, which reopened in Q1 after the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses have promoted exports to this neighboring market. Prices of such fruits as durian and dragon fruit have also soared.
Due to China’s strong fruit import, many border gates of Vietnam have extended their working time to 10pm every day. Good demand for fruit imports in China can help raise total fruit and vegetable exports in Q2 by 10 percent or higher, Nguyen noted, predicting that the revenue can reach about $2 billion in the first half of 2023.
Giving further details, he said that since Vietnamese durian was licenced to be exported via the official channel to China last year, this market has continually placed durian import orders. However, the first three months of the year was not the peak harvest time so the export volume of this fruit remained small. When the harvest season begins in April, supplies will become abundant and businesses can better meet importers’ demand.
Aside from durian, jackfruit, banana, and dragon fruit are also among staple exports to China, which will help increase fruit and vegetable shipments to this 1.4-billion-people market to at least $2.5 billion this year, according to Nguyen.
The fruit and vegetable sector now has a bright prospect in this market, he added. In addition, processed products made up a considerable part, one-third, of fruit and vegetable exports in 2022. This proportion was maintained in Q1 this year, showing foreign consumers’ gradual acceptance of those products from Vietnam, according to the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
