Vietnamese vegetables and fruits are forecast to reach a record export revenue of USD4.5 billion this year thanks to increased demand from China.

In Dong Nai, the southeast region’s largest durian area, six enterprises have exported their first batch of 360 tonnes of durians to China under a protocol signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China.

This year, Dong Nai is expected to export 20,000 tonnes of durian, with a value estimated at USD50 million.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Import-Export Company, said China has been increasing the imports of Vietnamese fruits, especially durian. His business signed a contract to export 1,500 containers of durian to a Chinese partner.

Besides China, vegetable and fruit exports to other markets such as the US, Australia and the EU all recorded an increase of 5-10 percent against the same period last year.

Ngo Tuong Vy, general director of Chanh Thu Fruit Import-Export Company, said Thailand was also harvesting durian but Vietnam’s durian exports remained unaffected due to high Chinese demand.

Nguyen Khac Tien, head of Ameii Vietnam Company, also said his enterprise was busy exporting lychee to Japan, Germany, the UK and the Middle East.

This year, his company expects lychee exports to Japan would increase by 30-50 percent year-on-year.

In addition, durian exports to Japan also grew well.

According to the General Department of Customs, vegetable and fruit exports earned USD2.03 billion in the first five months of this year, up 43 percent over the same period last year.

China remained the top buyer of Vietnamese agricultural produce, accounting for 63.4 percent of total export turnover in the first five months of this year.

The main contributor to the increase in Vietnam’s farm exports was durian.

DTI News