A consumer shops at a supermarket (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNA) – The Republic of Korean (RoK)’s exports of pears and applesto Vietnam have soared in the past years, according to the Korea AgricultureFood Trade Association.
The RoK’s pearexports to Vietnam surged by 9,440 times in the 2011-2016 period, from 52,000USD in 2011 to 4.96 million USD last year.
Its appleexports to Vietnam also went up by 928.8 percent in the period, from 66,000 USDto 679,000 USD.
Speaking onthe sidelines of a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on November 24, Cao ThiQuynhGiao, director of Lam Khai Hoan Co. Ltd, said her company imports about two tofive containers (each container having a loading capacity of 600kg) of pearsand apples from the RoK to distribute to supermarkets in Vietnam.
“ManyVietnamese consumers are fond of Korean pears due to its good quality andreasonable prices,” she said.
Her companyplans to import more pears and Fuji apples from the RoK, kiwi from Australiaand gala apple from the US, she said.
Taa Minh Thanh,deputy director of Tưu Son Supermarket in Chau Doc, An Giang province, said thesupermarket started to sell Korean pears and apples two and a half years ago,with sales of pear very good.
“We are hereto meet Korean firms as we want to find suppliers of apple/pear gift boxes toserve customers on the occasion of Lunar New Year holiday,” he said.
Lee SoonNyung, managing director of Hyun Jin Corporation, said the RoK exports about25,000 tonnes of pears a year, with the US (10,000 tonnes), Taiwan (10,000tonnes) and Vietnam (2,000 tonnes) being three biggest export markets.
It exportsabout 3,400 tonnes of apples a year, of which 2,000 tonnes is exported toTaiwan and 300 tonnes to Việt Nam.
As Vietnamdoes not cultivate pears and apples, many businesses have imported them fromother countries to supply in the market. Vietnamese people are fond of Koreanfruits, especially apples and pears, he said.
[Vietnam spends over 1 billion USD importing vegetables, fruits]
“Vietnam isa very potential market. We want to export more apples and pears as well asother kinds of fruits into Vietnam.”
“The businessmeeting today will help us understand more about requirements of our Vietnamesepartners so as we can satisfy their demand.”
Lee Sun Hyungfrom Gyeong Buk Corporation, said "Vietnam is an emerging market for Koreanfruits".
Many Koreancompanies as well as his company have prepared high-grade pear and apple giftboxes with nice design, hoping that the products will be consumed well in Vietnamin the future, he said.
Organisedby the Korea Agriculture Food Trade Association and the Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry, the Vietnam-RoK business seminar attracted seven Korean freshfruits exporting firms and 15 Vietnamese enterprises.
The two sidesexchanged information on import-export situation, prices, and quality ofproducts as well as difficulties accounted during the import process. Koreanfirms talked about ways to improve the problems and propose ways to increaseexports in the future.
Theassociation said it plans to invite Vietnamese fruit importers to visit SouthKorea to understand more about the production process of the fruits as well asdiscuss business opportunities.
Vietnamimported vegetables and fruits worth 1.02 billion USD in the first eight monthsof 2017, a year-on-year increase of 94 percent. Of which, the import value ofvegetables was around 200 million USD, while fruits imports were more than 800million USD, double the same period last year, according to the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development.-VNA
VNA
