VN aims to cash in on produce

Vietnam expects to earn US$1bil from the export of vegetable's, flowers and fruit by 2015, said Deputy Minister of Trade Tran Duc Minh.

The country hopes to raise turnover from exporting vegetables, flowers and fruit from US$280mil currently to $700mil by 2010 and $.1bil by 2015, achieving a growth rate of 29% annually from 2016.

^^^ People grow vegetable with technical support from the Netherlands in Dong Sang Commune, Moc Chau District, Son La Province.

Minh said that all the northern, central and southern regions of Vietnam would develop vegetables, flowers and fruit for domestic consumption and export.

To reach these targets, the Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) have co-ordinated efforts to implement a national programme for such exports and also domestic consumption.

MARD has planned to focus on 10 kinds of fruit trees that have economic appeal such as orange, grapefruit, pineapple, mango, longan and litchi.

Besides, the ministry will also boost production and develop consumer markets through contracts signed with enterprises and farmers, in which enterprises hold the key role.

The Ministry of Trade has asked departments of trade and agriculture in the provinces to select some local, limited liability companies and co-operatives that have experience in producing and exporting vegetables, flowers and fruits.

The ministry will help these companies and co-operatives organise production and export these products, with the application of advanced technologies.

Minh said that the Ministry of Trade also works to propularise trademarks for some special vegetables, flowers and fruits, and to expand orchards.

The ministry will also co-ordinate with MARD to organise bilateral negotiations with the US, European Union countries, Japan and Singapore to sign agreements on quarantines of farm products and to grant licenses on various agricultural goods, especially vegetables, flowers and fruits.

The sector will also boost international co-operation in food safety and hygiene, to advance the signing of international agreements.

To encourage farmers to develop orchards, the Ministry of Trade has proposed that the State prioritise policies on taxes for production and trade of fruits, and to exempt value-added taxes for co-operatives and enterprises that trade fruits and for farmers that have recently planted fruit trees.

According to the ministry, Vietnam now has more than 680,000ha of orchards, producing more than 6.5mil tonnes of fruit.

The country has created many areas for growing different kinds of fruit trees. For example, in Northern Vietnam, Bac Ha District in Lao Cai Province specialises in plums, Vi Xuyen District in Ha Giang Province specialises in oranges and Hung Yen Province focuses on longan. In Southern Vietnam, Binh Thuan Province focuses on blue-dragon fruit (a cactus fruit).

The country has also more than 765,000ha of vegetable and flower, with productivity of more than 9.6mil tonnes.

As for planting flowers, there are some localities in all three regions which grow flowers with modern facilities, earning VND400-500mil per ha, 20 times higher than rice cultivation.

The economic value of vegetable, flower and fruit is often 10 times higher than that of rice cultivation and other crops.

Vietnamese vegetable, flower and fruit are mostly exported to mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Germany, Australia and France.

However, development of vegetable, flower and fruit production had so far not been up to potential, said deputy minister Tran Duc Minh.

The country lacked detailed planning, while land policies had been problematic, making it hard to create high-tech farms to grow vegetable, flower and fruit for export, he said.

Source: english.vietnamnet.vn