The export figure soared from 151.5 million USD in 2003 to1.07 billion USD in 2013, and 2.458 billion USD in 2016, over 80 percent ofthem were from fruits.
Last year, shipments of Vietnamese fruits to China, the US,Japan, Australia strongly grew. Many kinds of fruits such as dragon fruits,mango, litchi, longan, orange and tangerine are available in supermarkets inthe US and Japan.
According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, thecountry’s fruit export surged 43 percent annually in 2017 to 3.5 billion USD,higher than rice export.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said fruitand vegetables shipment hit 353.782 million USD in April, up 10 percentyear-on-year. In the first four months of this year, the figure reached 1.323billion USD, marking a 30 percent rise year-on-year.
Earlier in March, the fruit and vegetables sector surpassedcrude oil in terms of export earnings for the first time.
As of early April, Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables werepresent in 60 markets worldwide.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le QuocDoanh said the prospect of exporting fruits worth 10 billion USD is not far asmore land will be used for fruit cultivation under the agriculturalrestructuring plan.
Can Tho city and Tien Giang and Dong Thap provinces in theMekong Delta region have built intensive fruit cultivation areas with hugeoutput.
Doanh said Vietnam needs to diversify export markets andreconsider the structure of fruit exports, especially dragon fruits which isits most important currency earner and accounts for the largest share of exportto China.
He added that the ministry has been partnering with firms tobuild additional seven processing plants.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen XuanCuong said total trade in fruits and vegetables nears 230 billion USD each year,growing 3-5 percent per year.
He underscored the need to ensure closed-end process withclean and quality products at competitive prices.-VNA