Vietnam accelerates fruit, veggie imports from Thailand

A customer buys veggies at a Co.opmart supermarket in HCMC. Vietnam's fruit and vegetable imports from Thailand in the first seven months of 2017 grew 3.2 times compared to the same period last year - PHOTO: THANH HOA

HANOI – Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable imports from Thailand in the first seven months of 2017 picked up 3.2 times compared to the same period last year, shows Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development data.

In explaining the sudden upsurge, Hoang Trung, head of the Plant Protection Department under the ministry, said Vietnamese firms bought fruits and vegetables from Thailand to ship them on to China.

Thailand remains Vietnam’s largest exporter of fruits and vegetables and accounts for 61.8% of the country’s total fruit and vegetable purchases from abroad, followed by China with 16%.

Besides Thailand, India and New Zealand were also major fruit and vegetable exporters to Vietnam, with respective growth of 2.2 times and 53.5% in January-July.

According to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam spent US$169 million buying fruits and vegetables in August, taking the total in the first eight months to US$1.02 billion, a year-on-year surge of 94%.

Vegetable imports doubled to US$190 million and fruit imports grew 34.6% to US$809 million year-on-year.

In the other way around, Vietnam has secured Thailand’s approval to annually export 9,000-10,000 tons of fruits and vegetables to the neighboring country, especially dragon fruit, Trung noted.

The ministry report also said Vietnam exported US$296 million worth of fruits and vegetables last month, taking the total in January-August to US$2.32 billion, up 46.5% versus the year-ago period.

China, Japan, the U.S., and South Korea were the four leading importers of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in January-July, representing 85.1% of the country’s total exports.

In the first seven months of the year, the country’s major export markets include Japan with 61.7% growth, the United Arab Emirates with 61.4%, China with 61.3%, Russia with 49.4%, the U.S. with 26.7%, Taiwan with 19.2% and the Netherlands with 12.9%.