Vietnam’s exports of fruits and vegetables have grown steadily over recent years. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, projected revenues for this year amount to 3.5 billion dollars. According to data given by Deputy Minister Le Quoc Doanh, export revenues were only 151 million dollars in 2003, but the figure exceeded 1 billion dollars 10 years later.
The growth of fruit and vegetable exports, is mostly attributed to Chinese demand. This, however, has led to a heavier reliance on this market. The Chinese market accounted for 28% of Vietnam’s exports of fruit and vegetables in 2013, but rose to 71% in 2016.
Although Vietnam’s fruit and vegetables exporters depend heavily on the Chinese market, the Department of Crop Production stays optimistic about the prospects; turnover is estimated to climb to 4.5 billion dollars in 2020 and 7 billion dollars in 2030, according to an article on 2lua.vn.
In Furthermore, fresh fruit has been shipped to other foreign markets such as ASEAN, the Middle East, Canada, the EU, the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Chile. Dragon fruit, rambutan, longan and star apples are sent to the U.S., South Korea and Taiwan.
There is some concern about China starting to tighten quarantine requirements and reducing imports via unofficial channels.
