Fruit exports increased sharply in the first month of the year

First orders of the year

In January 2024, An Giang province coordinated with departments, branches, Cu Lao Gieng Cooperative and Vina T&T Import-Export Company to export the first batch of VietGAP green-skinned elephant mangoes to the Australian and US markets. This batch of mangoes has been granted a growing area code.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Group Import-Export Company, said that the export of green-skinned elephant mangoes to the Australian and American markets initially affirmed the position of An Giang elephant mangoes in demanding markets. This is a great opportunity to promote the image and reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the international market. Currently, the company is planning to expand its market to continue to bring mangoes to more countries.

“In addition to green-skin pomelos, this January, Vina T&T Group Import-Export Company also exported a shipment of durian to China. Currently, fruit export orders to many markets are "full" in the first quarter of 2024,” Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung shared.

Durian export turnover has increased sharply in recent times.

In addition, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , it is expected that about 20 tons of Dien grapefruit from Hoa Binh province will meet quality standards and be exported to the US market in February. The 16-ton Dien grapefruit shipment was purchased by RYB Joint Stock Company from My Tan Agricultural Cooperative and Dai Thanh Agricultural Service Cooperative in Cao Duong and Thanh Son communes (Hoa Binh).

Director of RYB Joint Stock Company Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong informed that to export to the US market, Dien grapefruit must meet the criteria of sweetness, size, and the peel must also be shiny and beautiful.

“After harvesting, the grapefruit will be pre-processed, treated, packaged and wait for export procedures. This batch of Dien grapefruit was sampled for inspection and all met the technical requirements and food safety standards required by the importing country. In addition to more than 900 plant protection standards that must be met, the appearance of the fruit and especially the sugar content are also very important. If they do not meet the standards, they must be eliminated,” said Ms. Huong.

Assessing fruit and vegetable exports in January 2024, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that with a growth rate of 89.2% over the same period in 2023, exports of this industry are receiving many positive signals. The target of fruit and vegetable exports in 2024 of 6.5-7 billion USD will be successfully achieved.

Expand market, improve quality

According to Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, there is a lot of room for the fruit and vegetable industry. However, exporting enterprises need to ensure quality and standards, while proactively exploiting the market. Vietnam has signed 16 free trade agreements (FTAs), of which 15 are currently in effect. Thanks to that, exports of this industry have advantages thanks to tariff incentives, increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises.

“In 2024, the export of many agricultural products will continue to flourish thanks to the increasingly improved production, processing and supply capacity of our country. Vietnamese agricultural products are present in the markets of 190 countries and territories, but in large markets, the market share is still quite modest. For example, in China, up to now, Vietnamese agricultural products only account for 5% of the total agricultural imports of this country of 1.4 billion people. Or in the US, EU, Japan... there is still a lot of room for growth,” Mr. Nguyen analyzed.

To proactively create a stable source of goods and ensure quality, businesses have proactively linked with farmers and cooperatives to form growing areas. Specifically, businesses have linked with households in Tien Giang province to build quality growing areas. According to statistics from this province, specialized concentrated production areas have been formed such as: Durian area with an area of 17,650 hectares, annual output of over 278,000 tons of fruit; dragon fruit specialized area with an area of 8,900 hectares, annual output of over 260,000 tons of fruit; grapefruit specialized area with an area of 4,730 hectares, annual output of over 86,000 tons of fruit; pineapple specialized area with an area of 14,460 hectares, annual output of over 250,000 tons of fruit...

Director of the Plant Protection Department Huynh Tan Dat said that the Department will closely coordinate with localities and businesses to review standard growing areas to grant regional codes, and at the same time strictly manage coded areas to ensure quality standards from import markets.

Vietnamese mangoes are popular in many countries.

Regarding the market issue, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the Ministry will coordinate with ministries, branches and localities to regularly update information on standards and requirements from other countries to provide businesses with proactive export information. In addition, the Ministry will also coordinate with embassies of other countries to expand markets and take full advantage of trade agreements to promote growth for this industry.

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