The Southeast Asian nation of Vietnam was the fifth largest buyer of US apples last year, having an import value of 51 million USD, up 48 percent year-on-year.
These figures were unveiled by Agricultural Attaché at the US Consulate General in Vietnam, Benjamin Petlock, at a recent programme promoting the fruit held by the Washington Apple Commission in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the first ten months of this year, imports reached 40 million USD, compared to 30 million USD recorded in the same period last year.
Petlock said American farmers expect higher apple consumption in the Southeast Asian country. Trade between Vietnam and the US has grown strongly for many years and continues to set new records.
It was recorded at only 220 million USD in 1994 when the US officially lifted economic sanctions against Vietnam, and reached 1.4 billion USD in 2001 – the year before their bilateral trade agreement took effect. The figure hit 58.8 billion USD in 2018 and 35.4 billion USD in the first half of 2019.
