Against the backdrop of volatile global trade, trade promotion activities are becoming a vital bridge helping Vietnamese agricultural products expand markets, integrate deeper into international distribution systems, and elevate export value.

Opening multiple potential markets

According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first 7 months of 2026, agricultural exports continued to play a key role with a turnover of nearly 22.2 billion USD, up 2.4% year-on-year; forestry products reached 10.96 billion USD, up 5.8%; and aquatic products reached 6.85 billion USD, up 12.7%. Notably, the livestock product group reached 455 million USD, surging by 33.2%, indicating that many emerging segments of Vietnamese agriculture are showing positive signs of expansion.

The export landscape demonstrates that the agricultural sector no longer relies solely on a few traditional commodities, but is step-by-step diversifying products, expanding sub-sectors, and heading toward higher-value-added segments.

In the drive toward market diversification, India is emerging as one of the highly potential destinations for Vietnamese agricultural products. Commercial Counselor and Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in India Bui Trung Thuong assessed that agricultural trade is a field with vast untapped room in Vietnam–India economic relations, especially within the goal of elevating bilateral trade turnover to 25 billion USD by 2030.

A notable development is that India officially permitted the import of fresh Vietnamese durian starting July 13, 2026. Conversely, Vietnam opened its market to Indian fresh grapes starting August 1, 2026. These two moves not only create more opportunities for enterprises, production zones, and consumers in both countries, but also lay the foundation to promote the formation of new agricultural supply chains, contributing to enhanced complementarity in bilateral trade.

Beside India, the South American region is also evaluated as a market that warrants greater attention in export expansion strategies.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in Argentina, the markets of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay are opening up opportunities for Vietnamese goods as these economies accelerate integration, attract investment, and expand trade relations with international partners.

In the first 6 months of 2026, Vietnam ranked among the partners with which Argentina maintained a large trade surplus. Argentina exported approximately 1.8 billion USD to Vietnam and imported 469 million USD from Vietnam, corresponding to a surplus of 1.33 billion USD.

For agricultural products, although Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay all possess strong domestic agricultural production advantages—making it difficult for Vietnamese goods to compete directly in generic commodities—opportunities remain wide open in differentiated segments such as: processed coffee, pepper, tropical agricultural food products, beverages, organic products, and high-value-added goods.

Trade promotion must go hand in hand with elevating product quality

According to assessments by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, against the backdrop of potential global economic uncertainties, rising protectionism, and increasingly strict non-tariff barriers, Vietnamese agricultural products—especially highly seasonal goods—are under intense pressure to maintain order flows, defend market shares, and enhance competitiveness.

Major import markets continuously tighten technical standards, environmental requirements, traceability mandates, and labor conditions. Concurrently, increasingly fierce trade competition compels domestic enterprises to transform more decisively across production methods, processing, branding, and market access.

Discussing solutions to promote exports, Director General of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) Vu Ba Phu stated that in the coming period, the Ministry will continue coordinating with commodity associations to organize appropriate promotion activities in key markets; while maintaining the presence of Vietnamese enterprises at major regional and global trade events.

Beside consolidating traditional markets, Mr. Vu Ba Phu considered it essential to focus on identifying new growth drivers for exports through developing additional commodity sectors and expanding consumption markets.

Proactively uncovering market opportunities, diversifying export products, and strengthening business matchmaking will help generate further growth headroom for exports in the upcoming period.

In the context of increasingly elevated market standards, trade promotion cannot stop at organizing trade fairs, business matchmaking, or product showcases; it must be closely integrated with the process of upgrading product quality, standardizing growing areas, increasing processing capacity, ensuring origin traceability, and building brand identity.

Close coordination among regulatory agencies, the network of Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad, commodity associations, and the business community is expected to continue generating vital momentum to help Vietnamese agricultural products expand markets, elevate export value, and contribute positively to the export growth targets of 2026.

Source: Co quan Bao va Phat thanh, truyen hinh Ha Noi