Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover reached an estimated 1.25 billion USD in the first quarter of 2024, up 27% over the same period in 2023, the General Department of Customs has reported.

According to the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (VINAFRUIT), the fruit and vegetable sector earned nearly 1 billion USD in the first two months of this year, surging by nearly 73% over the same period last year, showing great prospects for its future export growth.

China, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Thailand, and Japan remained major markets of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables with sustained growths.

Notably, among Vietnam's top 10 fruit and vegetable importers as of February 29, the Thai market recorded remarkably high growth, hitting 28.6 million USD, surging by 125.9% compared to the same period in 2023. That lifted the country's market share from 2% to nearly 4%.

VINAFRUIT General Secretary Dang Phuc Nguyen attributed the result to the contribution of off-season durian, saying that Thailand has promoted purchasing Vietnamese durians to serve tourists because Thai domestic durian is only available for about four months per year, while Vietnam has the fruit all year round.

Based on the results mentioned above, Vietnam’s vegetable and fruit exports in 2024 are predicted to grow by 15-20%, even reaching 6.5-7 billion USD if exporters can utilise opportunities provided by trade protocols, Nguyen said.

Sharing Nguyen’s viewpoint, Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)'s Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, said Vietnam boasts many advantages to promote the export of vegetables, flowers, and fruits as it signed dozens of FTAs with foreign partners which facilitate negotiations to open doors for various vegetable and fruit products to access multiple markets.

To efficiently exploit market opportunities, production should be organised following standards of good agricultural practices tailored to each type of fruit and vegetable to meet the requirements of consumers in international markets, Hoa recommended.

Experts also predicted that, although the Red Sea issue has caused difficulties for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports to Europe and the US, the export to China and neighbouring regions recorded a sharp increase, especially for durian, coconut, dragon fruit, jackfruit, banana, and mango.

According to Le Thi Mai Anh, head of the Division for Southeast Asia and South Asia Regional Cooperation at the MoIT’s Asia-Africa Market Department, ASEAN is the second-largest market of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, only after China. Last year, Vietnam exported 297.7 million USD worth of fruit and vegetables to this market, focusing on four main countries namely Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Laos.

The advantage of the ASEAN market is low logistics costs due to proximity, and import tariffs ranging from only 0% to 5%, she added./.