Dong Nai, Viet Nam’s top banana exporting province, is expected to ship over 500,000 tonnes of the fruit this year, 25 per cent higher than last year.

Nguyen Thi Hoang, deputy chairwoman of the province People’s Committee, said banana is one of the province’s main export products, with 80 per cent of the annual output sold abroad.

Dong Nai also has the largest area under the fruit in Viet Nam, 13,419 hectares.

Businesses should continue to invest in applying modern technologies and expand production to take more of Viet Nam’s bananas to international markets, she said.

Viet Nam’s major markets for bananas are China, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia, with China being the biggest buyer.

Wei Huaxiang, consul general of the Chinese embassy in HCM City, said in his country there is rising demand but insufficient domestic supply.

He said authorities from the two countries should work together to facilitate Vietnamese exports, and his embassy would help local businesses promote their bananas, but they need to pay close attention to packaging to maintain product quality. — VNS