According to Vo Van Luan, Chief of the People’s Committee Office,mid-year export turnover of the agro-forestry-fisheries sector –accounting for 20 percent of the total export revenue – slid 9.6 percentfrom 2014, leading to the overall reduction.
During the period, stiff competition from Thailand and India as well aslowered demand from major importers Indonesia and the Philippines led toonly 339,000 tonnes of rice shipped abroad, an annual drop of 73percent.
The plunging rice trade islikely to be improved by the end of 2015 thanks to global marketrecovery as a result of positive impacts of governmentexport-stimulation policies and several free trade agreements, saidNguyen Anh Duong, an expert from the Central Institute for EconomicsManagement (CIEM).
To fulfil the 2015 exporttarget, local business communities and associations ought to enhancepromotion programmes and place additional emphasis on connectivity amongdomestic production, material import and market expansion, Duong noted.
Exporters across the southern hub needto focus on boosting price competitiveness, quality assurance andproduction capacity.
Pho Nam Phuong, Head of theHo Chi Minh Investment and Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), revealed thather agency is working to strengthen partnership in traditional marketslike the US and EU and in potential markets such as Russia, Indonesiaand India.
The ITPC is also making efforts to forge business links in Africa and western and southern Asia.-VNA