Vietnamese have to buy some imported fruits at exorbitant prices, but can only export fruit at low prices.
A red mango, for example, sourced from Japan weighing 350-400 grams sells at VND1.7 million in Vietnam. Le Thi Phuong, the owner of an import fruit shop in Hanoi, said that Japanese mangoes are 100 times more expensive than Vietnamese mangoes.
Vietnam’s fruits are much cheaper. A kilo of litchi sells for VND40,000 in Hanoi. However, while Vietnamese fruits sell cheaply in the domestic market or are exported at low prices, they are relatively expensive in foreign markets.
A Vietnamese student in Japan said a box of 12 Vietnamese litchis sells at 1,980 yen, or VND400,000, at a supermarket in Japan. If counting tax, total price is VND430,000.
When arriving at import countries, the fruits are treated and packed before they are taken to supermarkets and sold at high prices. MARD Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong admitted that post-harvesting preservation and processing are the weakness of Vietnam’s farm produce. This is why the 10 biggest export items are exported raw or only preliminarily processed.
1 VND = 0.000044 USD
