Vietnamese lychees aim to go global. - Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)
The northern provinces of Hai Duong and Bac Giang are the two leading areas for lychee production.
VNA cited the sayings of Tran Van Quan, Vice Chairman of Hai Duong People’s Committee that the province aims to make Vietnamese lychee a global name thanks to its world-class quality.
According to Quan, Hai Duong has over 9,000 hectares of lychees, producing 60,000 tonnes per year. About 50 percent are consumed domestically, 40 percent exported to traditional markets and 10 percent to high-end markets.
The province is home to Thanh Ha lychee, a variety that has made a name for itself in many demanding markets. The fruit has been granted a Protected Geographical Indication Certificate (PGIC) in Vietnam, as one of the Top 10 producers of prestige, honoured as a quintessence of Vietnamese local specialities.
“Our local lychees are grown in accordance with VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Remarkably, 189 Planting Area Codes (PAC) have been granted to many localities with a total granted area of 1,200 hectares”, he said.
The vice chairman also said that the province will focus on expanding export-only lychee-growing areas to add more value to the fruit and meet the growing demand of foreign markets.
Phan The Tuan, Vice Chairman of Bac Giang People’s Committee, underscored that the province has the country’s largest lychee-growing area of over 28,000 hectares. Bac Giang’s lychees are the first Vietnamese product to be granted PGIC in Japan and are eligible for trademark protection in eight countries.
“Bac Giang has 15,400 hectares of VietGAP lychees, equivalent to an annual output of 125,000 tonnes, and 102 hectares of GlobalGAP lychees, equivalent to over 1,000 tonnes”, he said.
The vice chairman also noted that so far, Bac Giang’s lychees have been commercially available in over 30 countries.
Vietnamese lychees introduced at the event (Source: congthuong.vn)
He said the province will continue to boost lychee export to high-end markets and try to gain entry into new markets, including Canada and Thailand.
Nguyen Duc Hung, manager of the Toan Cau Company, admitted that Vietnamese lychees are facing difficulties in reaching far-flung markets because the fruits cannot be kept fresh for long.
"Fresh lychees can be preserved for 40 days at most, so the fruits cannot travel long distances to far-flung markets," he said.
Accordingly, he recommended that Vietnamese producers develop new lychee-derived products that can last for a longer period of time so that the fruit can reach global customers.
He also suggested lychees be transported via railway to the EU to cut costs and avoid delay in shipment, which has been an issue in sea shipping.
Saadi Salama, Palestinian Ambassador to Vietnam, stressed that products on sale in the Middle East normally have Halal marks on their packages, indicating that the products meet Halal standards.
He hoped that more Vietnamese lychee-derived products are Halal-labelled to expand its foothold in the market, allowing the fruits to be enjoyed by more foreign consumers.
"I visited many Vietnamese exhibition booths today. All booths were well-organised with many eye-catching lychee products. Unfortunately, no products had been Halal-labelled. I hope that they would obtain the mark soon," he said.
George Burchett, an Australian journalist, described Vietnamese lychees as fruit from heaven due to their beautiful taste, though Vietnamese lychees are much more expensive in Australia than in Vietnam due to high logistics costs.
Vietnamese, Chinese airlines allowed to operate two flights per week
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has agreed to allow airlines of Vietnam and China to operate two flights per week, instead of only one flight per week as before, VNA reported news from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) on June 16.
A plane of Vietnam Airlines (Photo: Vietnam Airlines)
The move showed the effective COVID-19 prevention and control of the two countries, and the recovery of the Chinese aviation market - an important market of Vietnamese airlines, CAAV said.
Statistics of CAAV showed that Vietnam has so far restored flights to more than 20 countries and territories such as Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Taiwan (China), Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong (China), the Philippines, Laos, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), France, Germany, the UK, Russia, Australia, and the US.
The number of domestic passengers is expected to reach close to the level of 2019 by the end of 2022, a representative of CAAV said.
According to analysis by Airbus in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) based on the statistical results of flight numbers from flightrada 24 and Airbus estimate, Vietnam's domestic aviation market recovered at the fastest pace in the world, with a growth rate of 123 percent over the same period in 2019.
ACCV forecast that airports across the country will serve about 87.8 million passengers in 2022, including about 5 million foreign arrivals, up 190 percent and 844 percent respectively compared to 2021.
Businesses seek to boost exports to Laos, Thailand
The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) will host an online consultation session on June 21 to help businesses increase exports to the Lao and Thai markets, reported VOV.
The event will also raise issues related to the export and import of processed agricultural products and foodstuffs between Vietnam and these markets.
Statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show trade turnover between Vietnam and Laos in the first five months of this year reached US$708.2 million, of which exports to Laos dropped 11.7% compared to the same period last year to US$247.2 million.
Vietnam’s main export items include iron and steel, means of transport and spare parts, machinery, equipment, tools, fertilizers, plastic products, fruit and vegetables.
Meanwhile, Vietnam's trade turnover with Thailand witnessed a seven-fold increase from US$2.31 billion in 2004 to US$16.58 billion in 2020, with the annual average growth expanding more than 11%, according to statistics of the International Trade Center (ITC).
Photo for illustration (Source: laodong.vn)
In the first five months of this year alone, bilateral trade hit nearly US$8.57 billion, of which Vietnamese exports surged 15.6% to US$2.95 billion and its imports edged up 3.5% to US$5.26 billion.
Despite being the world’s leading exporter of agricultural products, Thailand has huge demand for importing fresh fruits and vegetables.
This will create a wealth of opportunities for Vietnamese farm producers to explore the billion-dollar market moving forward, say experts.
At present, Vietnam’s seafood, vegetables, cashew nuts, coffee, pepper, and fresh fruits are also being favored by Thai consumers./.