Open market for lychee and longan

In recent times, the Vietnamese Trade Office system abroad has promptly provided information, guidance, and support to localities, industry associations, and business communities in trade promotion activities to expand, develop, and diversify markets and products, boosting exports, especially seasonal agricultural products such as lychee and longan.

This information was emphasized by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai at the Trade Promotion Conference with the Vietnamese Trade Office System Abroad in May 2023, organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the afternoon of May 31 with the theme "Promoting trade of lychee and longan products" in the context that many localities in the Northern region are entering the harvest season of ripe lychee and longan. Resolving difficulties for consumption Reporting at the conference, Mr. Tran Quang Tan - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Bac Giang said that in the past time, the locality has focused on investing and applying science and technology, so the quality of Bac Giang lychee in 2023 is the highest ever. Accordingly, the estimated lychee output of the whole province in 2023 is over 180,000 tons; the lychee harvest time is from May 25 to July 30, 2023. This year, the export market of Bac Giang lychee, China continues to be identified as a traditional market, potential markets are the United States, EU, Japan, Korea, Australia, Malaysia; UAE, Singapore, Middle East, Thailand, Hong Kong (China) ... According to Mr. Tan, to prepare for this year's lychee crop, Bac Giang province has prepared conditions such as ensuring capital, electricity, foam boxes, ice blocks, environmental sanitation, preparing warehouses, transport yards, weighing points, centralized lychee purchase; ensuring security, order, traffic safety and other services ... Mr. Tran Van Hao - Director of Hai Duong Department of Industry and Trade said that currently, Hai Duong province has nearly 9,000 hectares of lychee; of which, early lychee accounts for about 30%, main-season lychee accounts for 70%. In 2023, the province's lychee is expected to be about 61,000 tons; of which, early lychee is about 31,000 tons; Main crop lychee about 30,000 tons.

Hai Duong residents are selling lychees to purchasing facilities for export. Photo: Tien Vinh/VNA

Hai Duong's lychees are mostly produced according to safe processes, of which 500 hectares are certified to meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, eligible for export to high-end markets. In addition, Hai Duong province has 203 export growing area codes, and 21 export packaging facility codes to markets; of which China is 13 codes, the rest are the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand. Notably, Hai Duong's lychees have beautiful designs, and the lychee harvest time starts early from May 15 to June 5. The main lychee harvest starts from June 5 to the end of June 2023, concentrated from June 10 to 20, 2023. Mr. Tran Van Cuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Hung Yen province informed that recently, trade promotion activities, connecting supply and demand for lychees and longans have been strongly implemented by the locality. Through organizing trade promotion fairs for lychee; organizing a series of trade promotion events for longan. In particular, the Department of Industry and Trade of Hung Yen has issued a Plan to organize a Conference to connect the export of longan and processed products from longan to the Japanese market in 2023, aiming to connect production facilities and enterprises exporting agricultural products to the Japanese market. However, at the conference, delegates also pointed out a number of difficulties for local enterprises such as limited capacity to access and negotiate to sign export contracts; the difficult economic situation of EU countries affects the market's consumption demand for lychee and longan products from Vietnam, there are still many payment risks in some markets... In that situation, local representatives proposed and recommended that ministries and branches; including the Ministry of Industry and Trade, business associations, and Vietnam Trade Offices abroad need to strengthen support, connect consumption, export, and bring Vietnamese agricultural products to the world. Proactively support

Harvesting longan at the household of farmer Nguyen Thi Thuong, a member of Mien Thiet Longan Cooperative in Ham Tu commune, Khoai Chau district, Hung Yen province. Photo: Vu Sinh/VNA

The United States is a potential market for Vietnamese agricultural products; in which, there is still much room for Vietnamese fruits to expand and develop. To access this potential market, Mr. Do Ngoc Hung - Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in the United States said that there are some obstacles such as the geographical distance is too far leading to long transportation time; there is no irradiation facility according to US standards located in the North. Vietnam's main competitors are China and Mexico, which have a lot of experience, widespread distribution systems, competitive prices, and low transportation costs. In order to remove barriers for Vietnamese agricultural products, the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States has coordinated with relevant agencies at home and abroad to gradually remove difficulties to expand the market share of lychees in the US market; in which, advising and proposing a mechanism to resolve problems related to the participation of the Hanoi Irradiation Center in the pre-certification program of the US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). In addition, the Vietnam Trade Office in the United States also negotiated with APHIS and was allowed to add one more partner, a Bac Giang enterprise, to the list of Corporations representing the Hanoi Irradiation Center to sign an agreement with APHIS on certifying irradiation facilities for exporting lychees to the United States. Similarly, Mr. Le Phu Cuong - Commercial Counselor, Vietnam Trade Office in Malaysia said that in order to expand the export of longan, lychees in particular, and agricultural products in general from Vietnam to Malaysia, businesses need to have measures to preserve products for transportation by sea, reduce costs, and increase competitiveness with similar products on the market. Mr. Cuong noted that the longan market of Malaysia and Thailand is almost monopolistic, but the market capacity of longan products is very large. This is worth noting for Vietnamese longan exporting businesses. In addition, the Malaysian Government is promoting the application of Halal certification for imported products to this market, domestic businesses should pay attention to this issue. Accordingly, it is necessary to build and promote product brands, pay attention to positioning fabric and label products in the high-end or mid-range market segment to put them into the appropriate distribution system. According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Quan - Vietnam Trade Office Branch in Nanning (China), localities and enterprises need to proactively cooperate with import partners in building and promoting the image of enterprises and key products of enterprises in addition to grasping and meeting the requirements on quarantine and quality of the Chinese market. Proactively build a direct communication channel with the Trade Office on the basis of understanding the export needs of local enterprises. Referring to the congestion at border gates in some localities, Mr. Ngoc Son - Deputy Director of the Asia - Africa Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that this situation is currently relatively stable. The number of vehicles waiting for customs clearance has begun to decrease compared to May 23. The Asia - Africa Market Department will continue to monitor the customs clearance situation at the border gates to promptly inform localities. However, some ports in Quang Ninh, Cao Bang, Lao Cai on the Chinese side have allowed fruit imports, and businesses can negotiate with partners to change import locations to avoid congestion. Ms. Nguyen Thao Hien - Deputy Director of the European - American Market Department assessed that due to geographical distance, Vietnamese goods will face many difficulties when penetrating this market. Therefore, businesses need to specifically position the high-end or mid-range segment for lychee and longan products to have appropriate promotion and consumption orientation. Experience shows that with fresh lychee, it is possible to position in the high-end segment, packaged 10 fruits/box, consumption will be much more convenient. On the other hand, businesses need to closely monitor changes in regulations for export goods to make appropriate adjustments. Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai highly appreciated the contributions and enthusiastic and proactive support of the Vietnam Trade Office system abroad; In which, the unit has coordinated and provided very specific information on trends, market demand, requirements, and regulations on exporting agricultural products in general and lychee and longan in particular.

This is the basis for localities, associations, and enterprises to develop plans and strategies for export, production, and business. However, for seasonal products such as lychee and longan, localities, enterprises, and units need to promptly take measures to ensure effective consumption and export. On the part of the authorities, in order to continue to improve the effectiveness of trade promotion, support the export and consumption of lychee and longan in general and fruits in particular, the Deputy Minister requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade to continue to grasp and update the situation of agricultural products and fruits when the season comes, regularly exchange with enterprises to grasp the needs for support for export and consumption. Regarding the Vietnam Trade Office abroad, the Deputy Minister suggested that it is necessary to strengthen monitoring and regularly update information related to developments, market information, trade policies, export standards and conditions, and policies for each key product, promptly advise the Ministry's leaders to have timely directions and directions to support localities, associations, and enterprises. In addition, the Trade Promotion Agency continues to carry out the tasks assigned at previous meetings, finding solutions to remove recommendations from businesses and localities; at the same time, promoting policy research and forecasting to create favorable conditions and maximum support for businesses in trade promotion and import and export.

VNA

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