Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has published key insights for its international trade commodities such as chillies, shrimp and coffee
Vietnamese fresh chilli approved for export to China
According to information from the trade agency of the Vietnamese Embassy in China, the General Department of Customs of China recently announced the approval of five Vietnamese enterprises producing fresh chilli to be registered to conduct export activities to the Chinese market from the month of March, 2022.
Nong Duc Lai, commercial counselor of the Vietnamese Embassy in China, said that these are the first five Vietnamese enterprises licensed to export officially again to China, after a temporary stop.
Nong Duc Lai also said that as of March 4, 2022, there were a total of 1,808 agricultural product and food product codes issued by Chinese authorities to Vietnamese enterprises for official export to China. In the context of China’s tightening quarantine activities for import and export of goods, especially at border gates to prevent and control the Covid-19 pandemic, the grant of official export codes is considered an inevitable direction to exploit the Chinese market well.
Shrimp exports aim to reach US$4bn in 2022
According to the shrimp production plan of Vietnam in 2022, the total farming area will reach 750,000 ha; in which, black tiger shrimp 625,000 ha, white shrimp 125,000 ha and shrimp production of all kinds is set to reach 980,000 tonnes. Export turnover is projected to be over US$4bn up 2.56% compared to 2021.
According to MARD, about 260,000-270,000 heads are needed for shrimp broodstock demand in which, whiteleg shrimp 200,000-210,000 and black tiger shrimp is numbered to 60,000.
Phung Duc Tien, deputy minister, MARD, proposed specialised agencies under the Ministry and localities to identify difficulties and analyse challenges. The Ministry will record comments, share experiences to improve the quality of shrimp seed along with solutions to reduce production costs of farmed shrimp, investment in the infrastructure of farming areas, technological solutions for extensive shrimp farming areas towards sustainable development.
Increasing coffee exports to the EU
According to the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade, the developments of the Covid-19 resulted in Vietnam’s coffee exports to the European Union (EU) in 2021 estimated at 556 thousand tonnes, worth over US$1bn, down 7.9% in volume. However, thanks to the increase in export prices, the export value of coffee has increased by 6.3% compared to 2020.
MARD considers the EU to be a significant market, and Vietnam still has a lot of room to boost exports in 2022, thanks to the advantage of export tax rates and an increased supply of high-quality coffee.
According to the Ministry, EU is currently the largest coffee consumption market in the world, also the largest Vietnamese one and accounts for more than 16% of the market share. In particular, with the commitment to remove tariff barriers thanks to the EVFTA Agreement, the opportunity to expand the Vietnamese coffee market in the EU is very potential when 93% of tariff lines are reduced to 0%. Coffee is also one of 39 geographical indications of Vietnam that the EU commits to protect when the EVFTA officially comes into effect.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam maintains free trade agreements with the EU. Vietnam's focus on producing and exporting Robusta coffee bodes well for the country while the EU market’s demand for processed and high-quality coffee is on an upward trend.
