Import turnover, meanwhile, stood at USD 14.3 million, down 6.6 percent.
The sector therefore posted a trade surplus of USD 4.5 billion, up USD 339 million against the same period last year.
Nguyen Van Viet, head of the Planning Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), attributed the results to falling demand and prices for key products in the market and declining export turnover to both China and the U.S.
The group of main agriculture products earned USD 8.94 billion, down 2.7 percent year-on-year, while turnover for livestock products was estimated at USD 190 million, down 19.4 percent. Main fisheries products recorded an estimated USD 3.56 billion in turnover, down 8.6 percent, while main forestry products raked in USD 5.3 billion, up 2.7 percent.
The country earned USD 1.6 billion, USD 1.7 billion, and USD 384 million from exporting coffee, rice, and vegetables in the period, up 1.2 percent, 18 percent, and 19.5 percent, respectively.
China, the U.S., Japan, and the Republic of Korea remained the largest importers of Vietnamese agriculture, forestry, and fisheries products, with market shares of 24 percent, 22 percent, 8.8 percent, and 6.1 percent, respectively.
To reach its export turnover target of about USD 41 billion in 2020, Viet said the sector will focus on seeking new markets and maintaining traditional markets, while adopting measures to fully tap into opportunities brought about by free trade agreements as well as enhancing trade promotion activities.
MARD will coordinate closely with other ministries, sectors, and localities in addressing difficulties in trade, customs clearance, and quarantine of agricultural products at official border gates, and strictly control non-quota agricultural product import and export activities, especially with China.
Source: VNA