Vehicles at Kim Thanh International Border Gate in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.(Photo chinhphu.vn)The newfound export surge can be attributed toChina's recent modifications in its COVID-19 prevention policies, leavingfarmers in a state of anticipation.
Vang Kim Sinh, a farmer of Tan Tien Hamlet, TrinhTuong commune, Bat Xat district said he and his neighbours have shifted toplant bananas instead of cassava to earn a living in recent years.
The technique of growing bananas is simple,bringing higher income than growing cassava, he said.
He said since the beginning of this year hehas sent several containers of bananas through Kim Thanh International BorderGate.
One container contains about 3,300 boxes ofbananas, he said.
He said that the price of bananas, which areexported to China, is more than doubled that of bananas he sells to thedomestic market.
When China closed its door due to the pandemic,he said that bananas from the commune were only sold domestically with thehighest price of 3,000 VND (0.12 USD) per kg.
Now, he said the bananas had been exported toChina’s Yunnan province with the price over doubled, about 7,000 VND (0.30 USD)per kg.
Statistics from Lao Cai province’s CustomsDepartment showed that in the first quarter of this year, import and exportturnover through local border gates reached nearly 186 million USD.
The export turnover reached 92.4 million USD,about 90.1% higher than last year, while the import turnover reached 93.2million USD, about 15% higher than last year.
Agricultural products are still the main exportedproducts, reaching more than 71 million USD, about 63.2% higher than lastyear, Chinh phu (Government) News reported.
Agricultural products account for 76.8% of thetotal export turnover. Main agricultural products include dragon fruit, banana,rambutan, watermelon, cassava and durian.
Creating favourable conditions
Duong Xuan Sinh, deputy director of theprovincial Customs Department, said that the department had deployed theelectronic customs model and electronic tax collection-and-payment model toassist businesses in saving time and costs in taking customs clearanceprocedures at border gates.
The department has also maintained goodinfrastructure to serve the operation of the "priority stream" foragricultural products through a pair of international road border gates ofVietnam’s Kim Thanh and China’s Beishan since June 28, 2019, he said.
Besides, he said that the border guard force hadarranged more staff to regulate traffic at the border gates, instructingdrivers to stop and park at the right places.
He said about 300 vehicles carrying imported andexported goods run through Lao Cai International Border Gate daily.
"We have restored all activities on theborder areas to facilitate economic development and trade at the border gate,"said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Trong Tue of the Lao Cai International BorderGate’s Border Guard Station.
In addition, the border guard force has alsocreated favourable conditions for entry and exit for people, vehicles and goodsthrough the Kim Thanh International Border Gate based on the principle ofstrictly implementing the agreement on border gates and regulations on themanagement of the land border gate between Vietnam and China.
Enhancing connectivity
China has been an important export market for some agriculturaland aquatic products of Vietnam, and it is the largest export market forVietnamese vegetables, fruits, cassava and products from rubber. After the USand Japan, it is the third largest export market for Vietnamese seafoodproducts.
Some commodity groups such as seafood, fruit, and coffee of Vietnamare among the ten largest exporters to China.
During an official visit to China by Party General Secretary NguyenPhu Trong in late 2022, the two sides already signed several Protocols on theexport of agricultural products.
China officially reopened border gates on January 8 this yearafter it changed COVID-19 prevention policies, offering an opportunity for manytypes agricultural and aquatic products of Vietnam to export to China.
To Van Quang, China’s Dong Dang Investment Industry CompanyLimited, said that this year, the company plans to buy 35,000 tonnes of durian,including 15,000 tonnes from Vietnam.
Besides, the company also demands to buy 120,000 tonnes of purplesweet potatoes and seafood such as catfish and pit fish.
With great help from large State-owned enterprises in China andcompetent authorities in Vietnam, the company is promoting the establishment ofthe Vietnam Seafood Trading Centre in Fangchenggang City in Guangxi Province,he said.
Fangchenggang City’s administration has started the constructionof two large-scale seafood cold storages. The first cold storage has an area of600 acres (2.4 million sq.m) with the capacity to store 200,000 tonnes ofseafood. He said the second cold storage has an area of 1,000 acres (over 4million sq.m) with a storage capacity of 600,000 tonnes of seafood.
Therefore, he said Vietnamese seafood could enter the Chinesemarket in large quantities very quickly in the future.
He added that the centre in Fangchenggang City is also a placewhere buyers and sellers can directly meet and transact.
Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency underthe Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that trade promotion activities withthe Chinese market have been active since the first months of this year.
He said this year's export promotion activities for the Chinesemarket focus on supporting Vietnamese businesses and localities to export theirproducts through official channels to China.
Vietnam has a northern border with China with a length of over1,449 km. Cross-border import and export activities in seven northern bordermountainous provinces, with seven international border gates, six bilateralborder gates, and 21 sub-border gates, are getting busier and busier./.
VNA
