Last year, exports were slower than previous years, but the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry still achieved high export turnover of 770 million USD. In recent years, Vietnam has been ranked among the top five fruit and vegetable exporters in the world.

To reach this target, Vinafruit will increase its growing areas and shift from inefficient rice production in the Cuu Long Delta, Song Hong (Red River) Delta and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) to planting more high-value crops. In addition, Vinafruit plans to establish wholesale and marketing networks as well as a farm produce trading floor, said general secretary Vinafruit Nguyen Van Ky.

The general secretary predicted that reaching this target would not be difficult, as Thailand –the country’s biggest competitor in 2012 – has now become o­ne of the top 10 importers of Vietnam’s vegetables. He attributed the change to Thai farmers’ shift to planting orchids, which bring them higher profits than produce.

This year, Vinafruit member companies plan to increase exports to specific markets.

Vinafruit will focus o­n China, a major importer. But exporters plan to sell Vietnamese fruit and vegetables at supermarkets there rather than o­nly selling directly to importers. The two biggest importers of Vietnamese produce - the US and Japan - mainly import dragon fruit, followed by mushrooms, maize, sweet potatoes, o­nions and ginger. Last year, Japan was the largest importer of vegetables from Vietnam. Imports are predicted to increase this year thanks to the growing number of vegetarians in Japan, Ky said.

In 2013, Vinafruit said its affiliates will increase their exports to China by closely cooperating with the latter’s importers and distributors and to top 10 importers of their farm produce, including Italy, Russia, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Germany and Canada, despite their strict requirements o­n cooking hygienic safety.

The country’s main export items are fresh fruit like dragon fruit, watermelon, litchi, longan and mango; fresh vegetables like mushrooms, potatoes, carrots and spice herbs; and canned vegetables.

In order to ensure exports, the sector plans to raise an annual vegetable and fruit output from 200,000-300,000 tonnes from 2011-2015 to 400,000 tonnes per year in the next five years and an annual fruit output from 500,000 tonnes from 2011-2015 to 800,000 tonnes in the next five years.

In recent years, Vietnam has produced a number of high-quality signature fruits and vegetables, meeting the demands for consumption of big markets and being increasingly competitive in such markets as the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Hanoitimes