EU countries are importing about EUR35 billion worth of fruit and vegetables each year, accounting for 40% of the global value, said Tran Van Cong, Vietnam's agricultural counsellor in Europe.

Processing fresh lychees for export at Vifoco.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to the Netherlands Pham Viet Anh, the Netherlands is not a big market, but it has an important position with many European wholesalers.

As such, if Vietnam can increase the production area and meet the market standards, it is a potential channel for Vietnamese fruit and vegetables to enter Europe, emphasised Anh.

For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Trung Kien highlighted food safety and environmental protection as the factors that European consumers attach importance to.

According to Nguyen Dinh Tung, Chairman of Vina T&T Group, the EU market accepts Vietnamese fruit and vegetables without the need for negotiation but there are no EU quality control representatives in Vietnam, making it difficult to export to this market.

Speaking at the workshop, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan noted that there is great potential for Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports to the EU.

He asked the ambassadors to provide enterprises with sufficient information and help promote Vietnamese agricultural products to EU consumers through trade fairs and other events.

The minister suggested establishing an alliance of exporters to the EU to help Vietnamese agricultural products penetrate deeper, adding that an overall strategy is needed in order to boost fruit and vegetable exports to the EU.

Foreign experts highlight Vietnam’s production, export strengths

Within the region, Vietnam ranks high on economic performance, fuelled by a powerful gain of manufacturing and export capability, according to economists Shirley Shen and Aidan Yao from the Singaporean-based AXA Investment Managers Asia.

Imports-exports contribute VND285.62 trillion to State budget

State budget collection from import-export activities reached VND85.62 trillion (US$12.53 billion) in the first nine months of this year, equivalent to 90.6% of the estimate and a year-on-year rise of 25.83%.

Quantity of export Chu rice noodle increases

(BGO) –  Luc Ngan district (Bac Giang province) has produced more than 10,300 tonnes of Chu rice noodles for the first nine months of this year, up nearly 1,000 tonnes year on year, 600 tonnes of which were exported, representing 10 percent increase of expanded market. Total commodity value hit nearly 325 billion VND (14.3 million USD).

Source: NDO