Orders for fruits and vegetables have outnumbered those for other agricultural products so far this year, signalling a bright outlook in the time to come.

Thanks to China’s reopening of market, many Vietnamese businesses have strengthened their export to this huge market.

Head of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Nguyen Quoc Toan held that businesses should focus on optimising their advantages to make a breakthrough for fruit and vegetable export, especially when China reopens its market.

Last year, many kinds of fresh fruits received licences to be exported to China through official channel, while many others were allowed to enter other markets.

This year, Vietnam aims for growth of at least 20% in export revenue of fruits and vegetables, at 4 billion USD.

Data from the department showed that so far, Vietnam has 1.21 million hectares of fruit farms with an output of about 18.68 million tonnes.

Vietnam Fruit Vegetables Association (VinaFruit) General Secretary Dang Phuc Nguyen said that Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have gained good reputation in the world with high quality and ensured food safety.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that in the time to come, the ministry will work closely with the MARD to increase trade promotion programmes on the digital platforms using information technologies, thus strengthening the export of farm produce, creating favourable conditions for exporters, especially in the Chinese market.

The ministry also plans to organise the first Vietnam-Shanghai (China) trade forum in Hanoi in April, he said.

The official also advised domestic firms to actively apply science and technologies in production and processing to increase their products’ values.

Deputy head of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development Le Thanh Hoa said that the global fruit and vegetable market is forecast to reach about 392 billion USD in 2025, adding domestic firms should pay greater attention to the processed fruit and vegetable segment to reduce risks from transportation./.