Earn tens of billions of dollars more if the value of Vietnamese agricultural products is increased

Speaking at the Vietnam Agricultural Products Week 2025 organized by the Department of Domestic Market Management and Development ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ), former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Luong Van Tu, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Economic and Trade Information and Consulting, assessed that Vietnam has many agricultural products ranked among the world's best, such as: rice which once won first place globally, coffee ranked second globally, pepper which at one point also ranked first, and cashew nuts which still maintain the number one position… In addition, many seafood products have also been ranked globally.

"Vietnam has all the conditions to become the world 's kitchen with a wide variety of agricultural products, especially in the context of the rapid growth in agricultural exports in recent times," Mr. Luong Van Tu emphasized.

Photo caption — Former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Luong Van Tu speaks at the Vietnam Agricultural Products Week 2025.

Taking rice as an example, Mr. Tu said that Vietnam is currently exporting raw rice, even high-quality rice, for only $600 per ton. However, if it were processed into rice flour and sold to Europe, the price could increase 3-4 times. Similarly, cashew nuts could also reach a value 3-4 times higher if processed.

“With coffee, selling green coffee beans only brings in 4-5 USD/kg, but transforming it into a cup of coffee can be worth up to 20 times more than exporting it raw. Therefore, to increase the value of agricultural products, thereby improving the income and living standards of farmers, we must pay more attention to quality and invest in the entire process from production to processing and preservation,” said former Deputy Minister Luong Van Tu.

In addition, attention should be paid to developing and improving standards for Vietnamese goods to enhance the quality of agricultural products, facilitate agricultural processing, and find better markets. At the same time, it is necessary to build strong brands, as product brands contribute 25% of the value of goods...

From a business perspective, Paul Le, Vice President of Central Retail Group, shared that the most important thing for each Vietnamese agricultural product is to build a story based on the country's history and traditions. In addition, it requires creativity and learning, learning from the stories told by the farmers themselves.

For example, Central is sharing the story of Vietnamese fish sauce around the world so that people in many countries know that "the best fish sauce is from Vietnam and made in Vietnam." Vietnamese people have many "secrets" to elevate agricultural products, such as fermentation methods and utilizing wind-drying techniques in the mountains... to preserve all the essence of coffee beans, and to create a robusta coffee product that can compete with products from Colombia, Brazil, and others.

According to Mr. Tran Gia Long, Deputy Director of the Planning and Finance Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment), agricultural exports continue to record significant growth. Agricultural export turnover in September was estimated at US$6.35 billion, an increase of 11.8% compared to September 2024, bringing the total agricultural export turnover for the first nine months of 2025 to US$52.31 billion, an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year.
Specifically, the export value of agricultural products reached US$28.51 billion, an increase of 16.8%; the export value of livestock products reached US$447.5 million, an increase of 18.6%; the export value of aquatic products reached US$8.12 billion, an increase of 12.3%; and the export value of forestry products reached US$13.41 billion, an increase of 7.4%.

According to representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, in recent months, despite facing numerous challenges from natural disasters and diseases, agricultural exports have maintained a high growth rate. The market structure has undergone positive changes. These results are thanks to the constant and close guidance of the Government and the Prime Minister, the flexible management of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, and especially the involvement of local authorities at both levels, the proactive efforts of businesses, and the people.

Representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment affirmed that if the average export value growth rate of recent months is maintained, agricultural exports by the end of 2025 could reach 67 billion USD. In a more favorable scenario, this figure could exceed 70 billion USD.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/thu-them-hang-chuc-ti-do-neu-nang-tam-gia-tri-nong-san-viet-20251026154332684.htm