Photo for illustration (Source: VNA)
Of which, the export value of key agricultural products is estimated to reach USD18.96 billion, up 15.7 percent from 2016, while aquatic and major forestry products brought home USD8.32 billion and USD7.97 billion, up 18 percent and 9.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.
The country shipped abroad about 5.89 million tonnes of rice worth USD2.66 billion in the year, year-on-year increases of 22.4 percent in quality and 23.2 percent in value, the Ministry said.
Strong growth was also recorded in the export value of vegetables and fruit, tea, cashew nut and rubber.
Vietnam country raked in USD3.45 billion from exporting vegetables and fruits, 40.5 percent higher than 2016. China, Japan, the US and the Republic of Korea were the four leading importers of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits.
Meanwhile, 1.39 million tonnes of rubber worth USD2.26 billion were shipped abroad, up 11 percent in volume and 35.6 percent in value compared to 2016.
The export of cashew nut saw increases of 1.9 percent in volume to 353,000 tonnes and 23.8 percent in value to reach USD3.52 billion.
The export value of tea contributed USD229 million to the total, an increase of 5.6 percent year-on-year.
However, the country witnessed a strong decrease of 20.2 percent in volume of exported coffee resulting in a 3.8 percent reduction in value.
Pepper also suffered from a bad year when export prices dropped by 35 percent from 2016. Despite a 20.5 percent in export volume, the earnings were down 21.9 percent to USD1.12 billion./.