Exports were down because many items with high export value saw volumes fall sharply, such as dragon fruit, which accounts for about 36 percent of total export value but fell nearly 10 percent in volume, bananas (down 13 percent), durian (56 percent), lychee (22 percent), and watermelon (36 percent).
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Fruit and vegetable exports hit over 3.2 billion in 2020 |
Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), attributed the result to declining imports from China, saying it imported 25 percent less fruit and vegetables than in 2019.
He noted, however, that exports to other countries still posted stable growth, such as Thailand (140 percent), the US and the Republic of Korea (RoK) (both 11 percent), and Japan (5 percent).
Fruit and vegetable exports were severely influenced by the development of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, Nguyen said.
According to MARD, Vietnam also spent USD 1.29 billion on importing fruit and vegetables last year, down 27.5 percent against 2019.
China, the US, and Australia are Vietnam’s largest providers, the ministry said.
Source: VNA