The opening six months of the year saw exports of fruit and vegetables exceed US$1.5 billion, representing an on-year drop of 14.5%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

China remained the leading buyer of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products, making up a lion’s share of purchases with roughly 60.8%. However, exports of the items to the northern neighbour suffered a drop of 29.2% in value compared to the same period from last year.

Elsewhere, exports to most other markets enjoyed an increase with export turnover from Thailand reaching US$ 57.8 million during the reviewed period, representing a 244.1% rise, whilst US$54.6 million worth of goods were shipped to the Republic of Korea, a 25.4% increase.

Furthermore, shipments to both Japan and the Netherlands enjoyed a surge of 26.4% and 28.3% to US$46.2 million and US$28 million, respectively.

Domestic firms are being urged to boost their exports of processed fruit and vegetables in the near future, with the exports of the products anticipated to bounce back at the end of the year once the novel coronavirus epidemic has been brought under control.