Despite facing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) still looks set to maintain its agro-forestry-fisheries export target of over US$40 billion for this year.

MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien told a Hanoi press conference on October 6 that the past nine months saw the agricultural sector gross US$30.05 billion from exports, representing an annual increase of 1.6%. This leaves the sector less than US$10 billion from the overall goal of US$40 billion set for the year with three months still left to go.

Tien noted that the newly-ratified EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) offers plenty of opportunities, including opening up a huge potential market, for the local export of agricultural products.

Since the EVFTA came into effect on August 1, Vietnam has raked in US$766.3 million from shipping agro-forestry-fisheries products to the EU, with the export turnover to the market in September alone rising by 30% in comparison to July’s figures.

To take advantage of opportunities presented by the EVFTA, Tien suggested local firms should be active in production, consumption, and export in order to meet the year’s export target.

He singled out forestry product processors for obtaining a 30% export growth rate over the past nine months, saying timber and forestry products are well on course for US$12 billion export target this year.