Workers packing fruit for export at Vina T&T Group Company. (Photo: MINH ANH)

In the context of the price of some export items continuing to increase, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment emphasised the issue of strictly managing the quality of goods, tracing the origin of products, and expanding the market to complete the target in the last six months of the year.

Many items make strong breakthroughs

Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Finance under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Tran Gia Long said: In the first half of 2025, the agricultural sector recorded three items with an export turnover of more than 5 billion USD, which are wood, coffee and seafood. Specifically, wood and wood products reached 8.21 billion USD, up 8.9%; coffee reached 5.45 billion USD, up 67.5%; seafood reached 5.16 billion USD, up 16.9% over the same period in 2024. Coffee, pepper and cashew products all set new records in price. The average coffee export price increased by 59.1%, reaching more than 5,700 USD/tonne; rubber price rose by 22.4%, reaching nearly 1,865 USD/tonne; cashew price rose by 23.8%, reaching 6,805.4 USD/tonne.

“From now until the end of 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will orient the agricultural sector to develop along the value chain, helping to improve competitiveness in order to best address the output of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in traditional markets and new, potential markets,” Long emphasised.

According to Le Hang, Deputy General Secretary of the Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, in the past six months, seafood export turnover increased by more than 19% thanks to exports to the US reaching 891 million USD, up 16%. The markets of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and ASEAN continued to maintain good growth momentum. The two main products, shrimp and pangasius, reaching 2.07 billion USD and 1 billion USD, respectively. However, it is forecasted that in the second half of 2025, these two main products may face challenges from the US's reciprocal tax policy. Notably, shrimp is at risk of being subject to “tax on tax” including a countervailing tax, an anti-dumping tax and an anti-subsidy tax.

Regarding fruits and vegetables, although the export turnover in the past six months decreased by 8.4% compared to the same period, reaching only 3.05 billion USD, the outlook for the last six months of the year is assessed as quite positive. According to the representative of the Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, in the past six months, Viet Nam exported nearly 130,000 tonnes of fresh durian; 14,282 tonnes of frozen durian, three times higher than the same period in 2024.

From now until the end of 2025, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will orient the development of the agricultural sector according to the value chain, helping to improve competitiveness to best solve the output for agricultural, forestry and fishery products in traditional markets and new, potential markets.

Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Finance under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Tran Gia Long

Nguyen Thi Thai Thanh, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Ban Me Green Farm Joint Stock Company, said: Since the beginning of 2025, China has required that exported durian shipments must have test results for cadmium and the banned substance auramine O (yellow o substance), many businesses have not updated in time and have not met this requirement immediately. Businesses have encountered difficulties in post-harvest processing of durian, not knowing which products to use that meet the technical requirements of the importing country, so they really need official guidance from specialized agencies. Businesses are still limited in investing in cold storage and freezing systems, making it difficult to expand the export of frozen durian.

“There needs to be a preferential credit mechanism to encourage businesses to invest in building freezing factories and post-harvest processing facilities. This is an extremely necessary issue, especially during the durian harvest season to avoid pressure on consumption and preservation,” Thanh emphasised.

“Key” to growth

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien assessed that if exports maintain the current growth rate, the agricultural sector can reach the target of 70 billion USD in turnover this year. However, in the last six months of the year, units and enterprises need to pay special attention to market work and be flexible with fluctuations in market structure. For example, compared to the same period in 2024, exports to China decreased, reaching only 5.94 billion USD in the first six months of 2025, accounting for 17.6%.

Authorities need to actively promote trade to new markets such as the Halal market with large consumption scale in terms of population and demand. The European market is also a fertile land with imports of more than 300 billion USD of agricultural, forestry and fishery products each year, but the import turnover from Viet Nam only reaches about 5.3 billion USD.

Dang Thi Thanh Phuong, Trade Counsellor, Viet Nam Trade Office in Germany, said: One of the groups of goods contributing to the growth of Viet Nam’s trade with Germany in the first five months of this year is the group of agricultural and fishery products with an export turnover of more than 1 billion USD, an increase of nearly 83% over the same period in 2024. However, the annual import turnover of agricultural products for consumption in Germany is about 70 billion USD, of which imports from Viet Nam only account for about 2%.

The items that still have the potential to grow strongly in the coming time are fresh fruits, especially coffee. According to statistics, in 2023, Germany was the second largest coffee importer in the world, with a turnover of 4.06 billion USD. In 2024, Viet Nam was the second largest supplier of coffee exports to Germany, after Brazil with a turnover of 500 million USD. In the first 5 months of 2025, coffee was the export item of Viet Nam to Germany with the highest growth rate, reaching 765 million USD (up 115.8%).

“In Germany, Vietnamese people have a large number of restaurants in most states. Vietnamese coffee brands can coordinate with the restaurant system or Vietnamese coffee shops in Germany to build and develop coffee brands. At the same time, research to bring goods directly into the retail system in Germany. According to calculations by the German Agricultural Export Association, the four systems Edeka, Rewe, Kaufland and Lidl alone account for more than 80% of agricultural products sold in Germany,” said Ms. Phuong.

Regarding compliance with animal and plant quarantine regulations to expand the agricultural export market, Ngo Xuan Nam, Deputy Director of the National Information and Enquiry Point for Epidemiology and Animal and Plant Quarantine of Viet Nam, said that countries importing agricultural, forestry and fishery products tend to increasingly tighten food safety regulations to minimise environmental impacts and ensure the quality of agricultural products. For example, the EU market in 2024 issued 114 warnings for Vietnamese agricultural, aquatic and food products.

The reason is that growing and farming areas have not fully complied with the regulations from importers on the residue level of pesticides (MRL) of each active ingredient of each product. Key and potential markets Potential markets such as the US market, Halal market, etc. also regularly add regulations and food safety standards, requiring businesses to continuously update information for timely and effective implementation.

The impressive growth in agricultural, forestry and fishery exports in the first six months of the year continues to help the agricultural sector maintain its role as a “pillar” of the economy. Overcoming challenges of market fluctuations in the second half of the year, continuing to promote achievements, will create a strong driving force to help the entire industry reach the 4% growth milestone in 2025 as set out.