Fruit and vegetable export is difficult to reach the set target in 2020

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the association, said that in the first two months of 2020, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports reached US $ 513 million, down 11.9% over the same period in 2019. Total value of fruit and vegetable exports The whole year 2020 is expected to reach only over 3 billion USD, down from 3.74 billion USD in 2019. “Fruit and vegetable export will face many difficulties in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. Fruit and vegetable exports to China – Vietnam's largest market – may sharply decline compared to 2019. He added that exporters are trying to increase sales to other markets to compensate for the decline in exports to the Chinese market.

Nguyen Hong Son, director of the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, said that in the past three years, many markets with high quality requirements such as the US, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and some Asian markets have opened. market for many Vietnamese fruits. But he emphasized that most of the fruits and vegetables are being exported in fresh form and that businesses need to increase investment in processing equipment to meet market demand, especially in Europe.

According to Mr. Nguyen, in order to promote exports to the US and Europe, farming methods must be changed to apply good global or higher agricultural practices. Storage and packaging technologies must also be improved to extend the shelf life of the product to more than 30 days, enough to be transported far to Europe and the US by sea. “Currently Vietnam's fruit exports are entirely by air so prices are very high and export volumes are low,” Nguyen said, and suggested that in addition to boosting exports, businesses should also pay more attention to the market. Potential domestic schools with a population of nearly 100 million. “With increasing income, Vietnamese people are increasingly consuming healthier products and the demand for vegetables has increased sharply in recent years.”

According to the Association, big cities like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang are in great demand. Statistics from Saigon Co.op show that fruit and vegetable sales in this supermarket chain increased sharply to about 1,100 tons / month. Mr. Son said that so far businesses have focused on exporting and paid little attention to the domestic market. “When we have export problems, we realize that the domestic market is very important and we should not think that the domestic market will accept low quality products. Currently consumers in big cities pay much attention to product quality. In addition, businesses need to find solutions to minimize intermediary costs so that more and more consumers have access to the product ”.

According to VNS