Fruit and vegetable exports in April reached 462 million USD, bringing their total export turnover in the first four months of 2019 to 1.4 billion USD, a year-on-year rise of 7.2 percent.

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

According to the Department of Agro Processing and Market Development (Agrotrade) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first three months of the year, fruit and vegetable exports had actually witnessed a year-on-year reduction of over 9 percent.

China ranked first in Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable import market, accounting for over 72 percent of the total export turnover. It was followed by the US with 3.26 percent, the Republic of Korea (RoK) 3.22 percent, Japan 2.9 percent, and the Netherlands 1.71 percent.

Strong growth was seen in Australian imports (up nearly 53 percent), the RoK 31 percent, and the Netherlands 28 percent.

After being licensed by the US to import fresh mangoes in February 2019, on April 18, 8 tonnes of mangoes from Cao Lanh in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, were exported to the US by air.

With the official export of mangoes to the US, this fruit is hoped to bring a lot of positive signs for the fruit-vegetable sector in the coming time.

Vietnamese mangoes are now sold in 40 markets in the world such as Europe, China, the RoK, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. 

According to Agrotrade, businesses should make use of Vietnamese key fruits – such as mangoes, dragon fruits, longans, rambuttans, “thieu” lychees, and star apples which have been exported to the US – to increase their presence in the market.