Expecting a historic breakthrough year for Vietnamese agricultural products

*Packaging rice products for export at Loc Troi Group's factory.*

Building on the impressive growth momentum of previous years, especially the strong recovery in 2025, the agricultural sector has set an ambitious target of striving to achieve an export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products reaching the milestone of 70 billion USD this year. This success is not only based on volume but also demonstrates the strategic shift to a growth model based on quality, technology and deep processing.

Elevating Vietnamese agricultural products

2025 is truly a breakthrough year for Vietnamese agricultural products. It is forecasted that by the end of 2025, it can reach the 70 billion USD mark, showing the remarkable growth of Vietnam's agricultural sector on the basis of quality, standardization and science and technology.

According to expert Nguyen Van Toan Co, founder and CEO of Felix Technology Solutions Joint Stock Company (FELIXTECH), this is the result of three factors: Resolute management of the Government and ministries and branches in promoting the market and removing technical barriers; Strong application of technology in production - processing - traceability - logistics; Proactiveness of businesses and farmers in chain linkage, crop conversion and quality improvement. All of these create the foundation for the agricultural sector to move closer to the goal of a new record year of exports.

"We are witnessing simultaneous growth in both traditional and new industries, from wood, coffee, vegetables to rice, shrimp, and cashew nuts. The increase in export prices of many products proves that Vietnamese agricultural products are no longer "cheap - competitive by output" as before, but have shifted to "high value - high standards", said expert Nguyen Van Toan Co.

Commenting on Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports expanding to Europe and Africa, expert Nguyen Van Toan Co said that this reflects the strong growth of the EU and African markets. This shows two important shifts: Vietnamese agricultural products have upgraded their standards to meet the demanding market. The EU is considered the "highest standard playground", with strict regulations on food safety, traceability, pesticide residues, and carbon emissions. When the export value to the EU increases, it proves that Vietnamese enterprises have proactively built codes for growing and farming areas, done well in traceability, invested in deep processing, and met sustainable standards.

According to expert Le Chau Hai Vu, Director of ConsulTech Business Consulting Company, the Vietnamese agricultural export market has also clearly shifted to Europe and Africa, increasing both quantity and quality, showing efforts to expand the market and improve the position of Vietnamese agricultural products on the global trade map. This is the result of a continuous effort by ministries and branches such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment in negotiating and supporting businesses to build from growing areas, quality management systems, customs procedures, helping businesses overcome difficulties and overcome trade barriers. All specialized agencies of the ministries work together to guide export standards, clearly specify warnings to help businesses be confident and expand exports.

Dr. Phan Tan Luc, Head of the E-commerce Training Program at Thu Dau Mot University (Ho Chi Minh City) also said that this is an important strategic shift for Vietnam, from depending on traditional markets to expanding to areas with high standards and large potential. The continuous growth of Vietnamese agricultural products in the EU - where requirements for quality, safety and sustainability are very strict - clearly reflects the capacity to upgrade the value chain of domestic enterprises. At the same time, the expansion to Africa shows a long-term vision in market diversification. This is an important step to help improve the position of Vietnamese agricultural products on the global trade map and minimize risks from market fluctuations.

*Grading dragon fruit for export at Long Hoi Dragon Fruit Cooperative in Tay Ninh province.*

Expected to exceed 70 billion USD

Commenting on Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports in 2025, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien said that it is forecasted that agricultural, forestry and fishery exports for the whole year of 2025 will exceed the set target of 65 - 67 billion USD, and the whole industry expects to reach a record 70 billion USD.

To achieve this goal, Mr. Phan Tan Luc said that it is necessary to simultaneously implement urgent and long-term solutions. The immediate solution is to promote deep processing, standardize quality according to international standards and expand the market to the EU, the Middle East and Africa; at the same time, support businesses to meet green requirements, traceability and emission reduction. The long-term solution is that Vietnam must build large raw material areas associated with chain linkages, invest heavily in digital technology and cold logistics, develop a circular agricultural model and build a national brand for agricultural products.

To achieve the target of 70 billion USD, expert Nguyen Van Toan Co proposed key groups of solutions. Accordingly, Vietnam needs to accelerate the digital transformation of agriculture, standardize growing area codes, comprehensive traceability, connect e-commerce - logistics - payment - finance platforms. Help farmers, cooperatives, and businesses access the market faster and more transparently, invest heavily in deep processing and build modern agricultural processing centers in raw material areas. Promote post-harvest technology, build national brands to increase the value and position of each product line such as rice, wood, coffee, durian, pepper, cashew, and tra fish.

Another important group of solutions is to improve logistics, reduce supply chain costs, expand cold storage, agricultural logistics centers, and connect multimodal transport, helping to significantly increase competitiveness. Expand the market, diversify risks such as focusing on the EU, Africa, and the Middle East, make the most of FTAs, and build a modern trade promotion system. With the above solutions, it is forecasted that Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fishery exports in 2025 can completely reach the 70 billion USD mark, thereby showing the remarkable maturity of Vietnam's agricultural sector on the basis of quality, standardization, and science and technology.

This is the result of three factors: the drastic management of the Government and ministries in promoting the market and removing technical barriers; the strong application of technology in production - processing - traceability - logistics; the initiative of businesses and farmers in chain linkage, crop conversion and quality improvement. All of these create the foundation for the agricultural sector to move closer to the goal of a new record year of exports. According to expert Le Chau Hai Vu, Director of ConsulTech Business Consulting Company, Vietnamese agricultural products have many types of fruits such as durian, passion fruit, banana, coconut, mango, grapefruit, which are being favored by countries such as China, the US, Japan, Korea, Australia and Eastern European countries and are gradually asserting their position. However, there are still concerns about the problem of controlling pesticide residues, about the uneven quality of agricultural products between export shipments, especially when the price increases are very difficult to control. Farmers need to pay great attention to the reputation of their partners to maintain long-term business relationships, especially in the export market, which is very strict with the issue of pesticide residues. Reaching or exceeding the target of 70 billion USD in export value is completely feasible.

Dr. Phan Tan Luc said that the strong acceleration of Vietnam's agricultural products in 2025 reflects the positive shift of the whole industry towards improving quality, diversifying markets and increasing processing value. This is an important foundation for the industry to aim for an export target of 70 billion USD - an ambitious but completely reasonable milestone. However, the ability to achieve this record still depends on maintaining the growth rate in the second half of 2025, controlling risks from market fluctuations, international standards and logistics costs. If opportunities are well taken advantage of and bottlenecks are limited, 2025 is likely to become a historic breakthrough year for Vietnam's agriculture.

Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery export target of over 70 billion USD by 2025 is completely feasible. This breakthrough requires concerted efforts from the State (policy improvement, market promotion), scientists (technology transfer) and especially businesses (increasing deep processing, complying with green standards). By focusing on quality, traceability and digital transformation, the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector will not only achieve short-term goals but also build a solid foundation for long-term sustainable development.

According to VNA

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/ky-vong-nam-but-pha-lich-su-cua-nong-san-viet-nam-527862.html