Illustrative image. (Photo: nongnghiep.vn)Hanoi (VNA) – Despite suffering a year-on-year decreaseof 11.1% in the first five months of 2023, agro-forestry-aquatic productexports are expected to rebound in the remaining months of this year thanks to recoverymomentum in main export markets, insiders said.
The total import and export value of agro-forestry-aquaticproducts in the first five months of this year was estimated to reach 36.96billion USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development(MARD).
Vietnam earned 20.26 billion USD from agro-forestry-aquaticproduct exports between January and May, down 11.1% year-on-year. The decreasein the revenue was attributable to a sharp decline in orders,resulting in falling export value.
The agricultural sector posted a trade surplus of 3.55billion USD in the reviewed period, a yearly decrease of 21.1%.
Last year, the country earned 11 billion USD from aquaticproduct exports but it recorded 3.37 billion USD in the first five months of2023, down 28.7% compared with the corresponding period of 2022.
Most of Vietnam’s aquatic export items suffered a two-digitdecline, including shrimp (nearly 36%), tra fish (40%) and tuna (30%).
The wood industry is also in the same situation. After enjoyinghigh growth for many years, the exportturnover of wood and wood products reached 5 billion USD between January andMay, a year-on-year decline of nearly 30%.
Vietnam targets to rake in 55 billion USD fromagro-forestry-fishery exports this year, up 3% against last year’s figure. Tothis end, the agricultural sector has strived to get more orders from US andEuropean markets as well as exploited free trade agreements to accelerateexports.
Despite difficulties as the demand has decreasedglobally, positive signs of recovery were seen in Vietnam’s major agricultural exportmarkets such as China, Japan and Asia.
High expectations are placed on rice and vegetables andfruits as many localities are entering high season for harvesting such fruitsas durian, lychee and jackfruit.
Nguyen Dinh Tung, Chairman of Vina T&T group, said that his group regularly exports mangos, durians and dragon fruits to US, European and Chinese markets.
According to the MARD, fruits and vegetablesbrought home 600 million USD from exports in May, bringing the five-monthfigure to 1.97 billion USD, up 39% annually.
The total export turnover of fruits and vegetables this yearis expected to hit 4.5 billion USD, surpassing 3.34 billion USD of last year.
The export of Vietnamese durian is expected to continue tosoar, reaching 1 billion USD this year due to strong increases in China'spurchase.
Rice export also saw positive results as the countryshipped abroad nearly 4 million tonnes of rice in the first five months of this year,earning more than 2 billion USD, up 40.8% in quantity compared with the sameperiod last year.
Vietnam is forecast to export about 7 milliontonnes of rice worth 4 billion USD in 2023./.
