Vietnam spent over US$600 million on importing fruits and vegetables in the first five months of 2018, US$110 million more than the same period last year.

Vietnamese fruits (Beeld: ©VOV)

Thailand and China were the biggest fruit and vegetable suppliers with a value of nearly US$385 million, accounting for over 64% of the country’s total imports, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In which, Vietnam imported US$274 million worth of mostly Thai fruits and some vegetables, including mango, dragon fruit, rambutan, jackfruit, durian and longan.

Meanwhile, US$110 million was spent on Chinese produce, such as carrots, cabbage, potatoes, pomegranates, pears, plums and grapes, over the past five months. The figure represents an increase of US$31 million year-on-year.

It means the Vietnamese people spend more than VND58 billion (around US$2.75 million) a day purchasing fruit and vegetables from the two countries.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports in the first five months of 2018 reached US$1.62 billion, an increase of 16.4% against the same period last year, according to statistics from the Department of Farm Produce Processing and Market (DFPPM) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnamese fruits and vegetables are being to 60 countries and territories, including four main markets namely China, the US, Japan and South Korea.

In January - April this year, Vietnam-grown fruit and vegetable exports to the biggest markets registered high growth, with China importing nearly US$989 million worth of products, a year-on-year increase of 30.3% and accounting for 75% of the country's fruit and vegetable export turnover.

The US came second with US$39 million, up 12.3%. The runners-up were Japan with US$36.55 million, up 15.9%, and South Korea with US$34.78 million, up 13.28%.

With the positive outcomes from 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, Vietnam is expected to gross US$10 billion from exporting fruits and vegetables in the near future.

Agroberichten Buitenland