Five tonnes of Vietnamese red flesh dragon fruit were brought to Australia for an event to promote the Vietnamese fruit.

The event has been taking place in Australia's three most populous states - New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia between April 2-8.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the restriction orders on movement, all marketing and distribution activities faced many difficulties, reported the Vietnam News Agency representative office based in Sydney.

However, thanks to the co-operation of the Viet Nam trade office and Da Lat Export Company in Australia, five tonnes of red flesh dragon fruit from Viet Nam were brought to Australia.

Nguyen Phu Hoa, head of the Viet Nam Trade Office in Australia, said the pandemic had greatly affected the marketing and distribution of Vietnamese red dragon fruit products.

However, thanks to the enthusiastic help of Vietnamese business associations in Australia and the overseas Vietnamese community, the event had been really successful, he said.

The trade office is campaigning to build a forum for Vietnamese agricultural product importers in Australia to unify action plans and deal with risky world trade situations.

Australia has been open to Vietnamese dragon fruit since July last year after more than nine years of negotiations.

Viet Nam is the first and only country to be licensed to export this product to Australia.

The promotion of the red flesh dragon fruit is an opportunity to create a sustainable position in one of the most demanding markets in the world. — VNS