Sharing about the growth situation of the agricultural sector in early 2025, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that exported agricultural products are facing double disadvantages.

On the morning of February 6, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien had a meeting with the press about the development of the industry in January 2025 as well as answering some related issues.

First of all, the Deputy Minister affirmed that although consumer demand increased during the Lunar New Year of At Ty by 10-15%, with careful, proactive, and early preparation, the supply of food and foodstuffs remained abundant, prices were stable, and quality increased.

In January, agricultural, forestry, and fishery production activities in January 2025 achieved positive results. However, the export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in January 2025 is estimated at 5.08 billion USD, down 4.9% compared to the same period in 2024.

The leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the export turnover target of 64 - 65 billion USD this year will face difficulties and challenges right from the first month of the year.

Answering the reason for the decrease in export value in the first month of the year, the Deputy Minister said there were 2 problems, the first is the decrease in purchasing power, the second is the decrease in prices even though output has increased.

"Although it has only been a month, we need a system of solutions to maintain growth momentum and at the same time reach the target of 2025", Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed.

Some of the solutions he proposed were to focus on potential markets such as the United States, China, Japan, Korea, Europe, the Philippines, etc., as well as open up new markets, such as Halal consumer countries: “The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has convened a number of potential businesses to discuss and promote solutions to enter new markets.”

Faced with the risk of trade confrontation between countries around the world, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien affirmed that Vietnamese agricultural products exported to the United States are still stable, including some typical products such as tra fish and shrimp.

Therefore, the agricultural sector will continue to hold conferences to discuss and propose solutions to promote output, quality and better export value in 2025.

At the same time, continue to grasp information, trends and needs of potential markets as a basis for analysis, promoting trade and organizing production in accordance with market demand.

In addition to maintaining and expanding the market, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien also emphasized the role of organizing good production, ensuring traceability, digital transformation, following a green economy, and reducing emissions.

Regarding the issue of yellow O durian exported to China, the leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that, besides the positive information about this product, there are still some gardeners who are organizing production in a sloppy manner.

However, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has promptly directed the Plant Protection Department and localities to seriously review and rectify to maintain large-scale growing areas, high product yield and guaranteed quality.

In addition, to prepare for the upcoming inspection by the European Commission (EC) on the IUU issue, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will organize 4 conferences in all 3 regions and nationwide before the EC comes to Vietnam.

With such continuous actions, the Deputy Minister believes that Vietnam will ensure the requirements of the EC and show our determination and determination in the effort to remove the "IUU yellow card".

The export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in January 2025 is estimated at 5.08 billion USD, down 4.9% over the same period in 2024. Of which, the export value of agricultural products reached 2.64 billion USD, down 6.2%; the export of livestock products reached 39 million USD, down 9.3%; the export of aquatic products reached 750 million USD, up 0.3%; the export of forestry products reached nearly 1.5 billion USD, down 4.8%; the export of production inputs reached 158 million USD, down 5.1%; the export of salt reached 0.7 million USD, up 82.7%.By region, Asia is the largest export market for Vietnam's agricultural and forestry products with a market share of 47.9%. The next two largest markets are the Americas and Europe with market shares of 23.8% and 11.4%, respectively.The market shares of the two regions of Africa and Oceania are small, accounting for 1.8% and 1.5% respectively. Compared to 2023, the export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products in 2024 to Asia increased by 15.8%; America increased by 23.8%; Europe increased by 28.3%; Africa increased by 6.5%; and Oceania increased by 13.5%.In January 2025, the export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the Americas, Asia, and Europe decreased. Of which, the export value to the Americas reached 1.21 billion USD, down 3.5% compared to the same period in 2024; Asia reached 2.43 billion USD, down 1.8%; and Europe reached 577 million USD, down 16.2%. Meanwhile, exports to Africa increased by 31.3%, and to Oceania by 0.2%.In terms of detailed markets, the United States with a market share of 21.9%, China with a market share of 21.5%, and Japan with a market share of 6.6%, are the three largest export markets for Vietnam's NLTS products. Compared to 2023, the export value of Vietnam's NLTS products in 2024 to the United States market increased by 24.8%, China increased by 11.3%, and Japan increased by 6.1%.

Source: Nong Nghiep Newspaper