Tra fish processed for export (Photo: VNA)
Major farm produce shipped overseas brought home USD10.84 billion, with five “billion dollar” good categories being coffee (USD1.8 billion), rubber (USD1.1 billion), rice (USD1.73 billion), cashew (nearly USD1.8 billion), and vegetables and fruits (USD2.3 billion).
The ministry said export revenue of agricultural products fell 8.2 percent year-on-year, and this was due to a drop in several products like cashew (20.6 percent), pepper (25.2 percent), coffee (12 percent), and rice (16 percent).
The export prices of two main seafood exports, tra fish and shrimp, dropped 3.2 percent and 10.4 percent to USD1.16 billion and USD1.73 billion, respectively, causing seafood export revenue dwindle 1 percent to USD4.68 billion.
During January-July, shipments of main forestry products earned the country nearly USD6.01 billion, up 17.3 percent year on year, of which wood and wooden products contributed over USD5.6 billion, up 16.1 percent, and bamboo and rattan products USD264 million, soaring 46.6 percent.
According to the ministry, Vietnam spent USD18 billion on foreign agro-forestry-fishery goods and agricultural materials.
As global economic growth is projected to fall while agricultural development will bounce back in many countries, it will be hard for Vietnam’s agricultural exports in the coming time, the ministry said.
Fierce competition will pull prices of exports down. Besides, large importers of Vietnam like the US, the EU, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have imposed strict standards on quality management, food safety and hygiene, and origin traceability on agricultural imports.
The ministry will work with businesses and associations to keep a close watch on the development of the markets, as well as enhance inspection on smuggling in the domestic market.
Besides coordinating with competent ministries and sectors to stabilize traditional markets and expand potential ones, helping reduce dependence on single country, the ministry will give production guidance to localities to ensure that their products meet importers’ requirements on origin traceability and geographical indication.
Furthermore, due attention will be given to developing brands for agricultural products, particularly those exported to the Chinese market, while relevant authorities will set up coordination mechanism with the Chinese General Administration of Customs so as to remove bottlenecks in the trading of agricultural products between the two countries./.