Vietnamese fruit exports had a good year in 2015. — Photo thuongmai.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese fruit exports had a good year in 2015 with different kinds of fruits successfully penetrating markets.

Hoang Trung, deputy director of the Plant Protection Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at yesterday conference said that rapid international integration with the elimination of technical barriers widened doors for exports of agro-forestry products.

In 2015, Viet Nam exported 3 million tonnes of lychees and 100 tonnes of longans to the US. This was the first time that Vietnamese lychees and longans were exported to this market.

In addition, 1,200 tonnes of dragon fruits and 10.6 tonnes of mangoes were exported to Japan last year, while Australia allowed the import of 16 batches of lychees, or 28 tonnes from Viet Nam.

New Zealand was also checking the cultivation of rambutan and considering imports of this fruit.

Trung said that the department was conducting necessary procedures and tackling difficulties for the exports of star apples, longan, lychee and rambutan to Korea, and dragon fruit to Taiwan.

Previously, the Viet Nam Fruit and Vegetable Association forecast that export of fruits and vegetables would reach US$2 billion this year from $1.49 billion last year, fuelled by the opening of many strict markets such as Japan, the EU and the US.

Around 40 kinds of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables were exported to 40 countries and territories, including major export markets such as mainland China, Japan, South Korea, and the US, in addition to Malaysia and Thailand.

Experts said that it was important for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to meet quality requirements of import markets in order to expand their exports.

The Plant Protection Department said that the quarantine on exported fruits, especially those to strict markets such as dragon fruits, longan, rambutan and mango, would be enhanced to ensure quality.

The quarantine procedures were simplified, however, to create advantageous conditions for exporters, the department said.

There were more than 100 fruit and vegetable fruit processing plants in the country with a combined capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year.

Regarding imported products, the department set up a criteria for 13 kinds of fruits from seven countries, such as apple and pear from Holland, grape, orange, mandarin from Australia, and orange, lemon and mandarin from Egypt. — VNS