“Although there are still many challenges, thanks to the good growth in the first quarter’s export turnover, we can rest assured that the next quarter will grow better than the previous quarter. It is completely possible to steadily move towards the export target of the entire agricultural sector reaching 64-65 billion USD this year,” Mr. Phung Duc Tien - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment (MARD) - shared with Tien Phong reporter on the afternoon of April 1.

Impressive growth

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that Vietnam had gone through a challenging but also successful first quarter. In March alone, Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover was estimated at over 6.1 billion USD, bringing the total agricultural export turnover in the first quarter to over 15.7 billion USD, an increase of more than 13% over the same period last year. The trade balance of the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector in the first quarter is estimated to have a surplus of 4.4 billion USD.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien. Photo: Thanh Huyen.

By region, Asia is the largest export market for Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products. The next two largest markets are the Americas and Europe. Compared to the same period last year, the estimated export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first three months of the year in Asia increased by 2%; the Americas increased by 15.7%; Europe increased by 37.8%; Africa increased by 2.1 times; and Oceania increased by 0.8%.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that in recent times, agricultural exports have faced many difficulties from the international situation. Especially the tensions in trade relations between the US - China, the US - Russia and issues related to Ukraine.

In addition, some key products have also been strongly affected by policy changes in some markets such as: Rice is strongly affected by India's policy; durian affected by China's policies...

"However, despite facing many difficulties from the international situation, we have made constant efforts to maintain and develop agricultural exports and achieved impressive results," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.

Specifically, to cope with changes in trade policies of other countries, Vietnam has made careful and flexible preparations, including proactively developing response scenarios and closely cooperating with relevant ministries and branches. Specialized agencies have also worked with international partners to minimize negative impacts and find the most effective solutions for Vietnam's agricultural sector.

"Although there are still many challenges, thanks to the good growth in export turnover in the first quarter, we can rest assured that the next quarter will grow more than the previous quarter. It is completely possible to steadily move towards the export target of the entire agricultural sector reaching 64-65 billion USD this year," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed.

Towards sustainable agriculture

In terms of product lines alone, although durian exports to China are facing difficulties, fruit and vegetable exports still reached nearly 10 billion USD, maintaining positive growth. Seafood exports in the first 3 months of the year also increased by more than 18%, reaching 2.29 billion USD. Wood and wood products reached 3.95 billion USD after three months, up 11.6%.

Seafood exports grow positively. Illustrative photo: IT.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, currently, there are items that increase in output but decrease in value such as rice, while there are items that increase in both value and output such as tea; there are items that decrease in output but increase in value such as coffee, pepper, etc.

“This proves that we are on the right track in restructuring and increasing the value of Vietnamese agricultural products,” Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed.

To achieve that, the most important thing is to implement synchronous solutions on quality management and control of product origin.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that in the coming time, the agricultural sector will continue to develop in the direction of restructuring and sustainable development.

“The goal is not only to increase output but also to increase added value and product quality. This will ensure that Vietnamese agricultural products are not only popular in traditional markets but also expand to new markets,” Deputy Minister Tien emphasized.

Source: CafeF