October 04, 2018 | 21:02 (GMT+7)
Fruit, veggie exports likely to hit USD 3.8 billion
Exports of fruits and vegetables for the whole year are likely to reach USD 3.8 billion thanks to comprehensive measures taken by the agricultural sector, according to Nguyen Quoc Toan, Acting Director of the Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Vietnam is projected to earn USD 3.1 billion in vegetable and fruit exports in the first nine months of the year, a year-on-year surge of 17.1 percent.
Currently, China is the largest market of Vietnam’s fruits and vegetables, accounting for 74 percent of the total market share. Vietnam shipped nearly USD 2 billion worth of fruits and vegetables to the neighboring country during January-August, up 11.6 percent from the same period last year.
Strong growth was seen in the exports to Thailand (38 percent), Australia (36 percent), the US (26.3 percent), and the Republic of Korea (21.4 percent).
The department also said that Vietnam splashed out USD 1.3 billion purchasing fruits and vegetables from foreign countries in the nine-month period, increasing 12.7 percent year on year. Of the total, USD 330 million was spent on vegetable imports, and USD 911 million for fruit imports, up 36 percent and 0.8 percent from the same time last year, respectively.
Most of the imports came from Thailand (45 percent) and China (22 percent).
Source: VNA