Asia and Europe are important markets for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports and imports, and flowers could be next. A seminar on horticulture and floriculture exports titled 'New movement in Asian and European markets' was held by the organisers of HortEx Vietnam in Hà Nội on Thursday.
Fruit and vegetable exports grew from US$829 million in 2012 to $1.47 billion in 2014, and to $2.4 billion in 2016 before reaching a record of $3.86 billion last year, surpassing many other agricultural products.
“By negotiating and signing 16 free trade agreements, including the Việt Nam - European Union Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) between the European Union (EU) and Vietnam in June, many opportunities are opening for the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products of Vietnam, including the fruit and vegetable industry,” said Lê Thanh Hòa, deputy director general of the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
“This will be a good opportunity for the expansion of Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export markets in the global production, processing and supply chain,” he said. “To seize this opportunity, the whole industry needs to change its perception, actively seek directions to be able to integrate and better meet market regulations, improving the status of Vietnamese agricultural products.”
“To achieve this, companies must equip themselves with market knowledge, updated technology, improve product quality and network with global supply chains,” he added.
Lê Thị Mai Anh, a representative from the Asia-Africa Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said fruit and vegetable exports of Vietnam to Asian markets made up 85 per cent of total export turnover, including top Asian markets such as China, South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
