Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports are likely tosurpass 4 billion USD this year, thanks to an average monthly growth of over 14percent.
According to the Import-Export Agency under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, Vietnam earned 2.7 billion USD from veggetable and fruitexports in the first eight months of 2018, a year-on-year rise of 14.1 percent.
China continued to be the largest importer of Vietnamesevegetables and fruits, with a turnover of nearly 2 billion USD, up 11.6 percentagainst the same period last year.
The country was followed by the US, Thailand and Australia.
The result is attributed to the similarity in demand, habitsand consumer taste and close geographical distance between Vietnam and China.However, requirements for product quality of the Chinese market are increasingas the common trend of the world.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said itwill continue encouraging farmers across the country to replace rice in areasproducing low output with other crops of higher economic value such as fruittrees, vegetables or flowers.
The Ministry will also push the use of high-quality seedsand seedlings along with advanced farming technology in agriculture to improvethe value and competitiveness of domestic farm produce.
Last year, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export valueexceeded 3.5 billion USD. The sector is striving to reach a year-on-year growthof 10-15 percent this year, or around 4 billion USD.-VNA