According to the association, fruit and vegetable export turnover reached the record high of $2.4 billion. That was the first time which the number exceeded rice export turnover, hitting only $2 billion. It is forecast to near $3 billion in 2017.
At the workshop, most export firms and experts said that the biggest challenge now in fruit export is processing technologies.
Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, deputy head of the Department of Crop Production under the ministry, said that Vietnamese firms have mainly exported fresh fruits. Therefore, added value is low, products are easily impacted by food safety regulations and technical barriers such as plant quarantine, quality quickly reduces and preservation time is short.
He prompted relevant sides to set the target of speeding up science and technology application in production, developing processing and preservation technologies to provide diversified products such as frozen, bottled, fried fruits and fruit juice to increase added value, expand the market and increase export volume.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has determined that science and technology plays a significant role to boost the vegetable and fruit industry’s development.
China is the largest market of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables. Many products have been present in the US, South Korea, Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia and Singapore.
