Vietnamese exports of farm, forestry and fisheries products in the first half of this year topped $24 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.2 percent. Farm exports were worth $10.4 billion, up 13.3 percent, with tea, pepper, cashew, vegetables, fruits, rubber, and cassava and cassava-based products all seeing increases, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.
Fruit exports rose 17.6 percent to $2.36 million, Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit & Vegetables Association, told VnExpress. The bulk of these exports went to China.
Large volumes of litchi were exported to many markets, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Germany, France, and the Czech Republic. But according to Dang Phuc Nguyen, fruit sales in the domestic market were also sharply up.
In the second half of the year, with the pandemic yet to be controlled, Vietnam will take advantage of trade deals such as the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to penetrate new markets, the ministry said.