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| Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien speaks at the Vietnam - US Trade Promotion Forum on January 4. (Source: VnEconomy) |
Increasing competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural products in the US market
Speaking at the Vietnam-US Trade Promotion Forum on January 4, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the US in 2023 will reach 11.1 billion USD, accounting for 21% of Vietnam's total agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover. In 2022, the US was the largest market for agricultural, forestry and fishery exports from Vietnam, with a turnover of 13.3 billion USD, accounting for 25% of the industry's export market share. However, in 2023, the US dropped to second place, after China.
"Vietnamese agricultural and food products are increasingly penetrating international markets, and export capacity is improving. In particular, the United States is a strong market with great consumption power, and is the target of many export enterprises. However, penetrating this market is a challenge for Vietnamese enterprises," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.
Dr. Le Dang Doanh, Senior Economist, said that the opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural products to be exported to the United States is huge. Many typical agricultural products of Vietnam such as coffee, pepper... but the United States does not have the strength to produce. "Especially, with 2 million Vietnamese Americans, these will be very good partners for Vietnamese agricultural products," Dr. Doanh said.
According to Dr. Le Dang Doanh, Chinese goods exported to the United States are taxed at 270%, but the same goods labeled as Vietnamese have a tax of 0%. Therefore, US agencies strictly inspect, investigate and take punitive measures against fraud in the origin of goods. Dr. Doanh recommends that Vietnamese enterprises need to cooperate frankly, openly and transparently with US enterprises to increase added value, which will be more beneficial; at the same time, carefully consider the law, conditions on green, clean, environment, recycling, waste, conditions on intellectual property, etc.
The United States has also increased the frequency of trade defense investigations into Vietnamese goods (investigating the origin of cotton in textiles and garments to avoid the risk of export bans, investigating whether shrimp is subsidized, etc.). In addition, in the US market, Vietnamese enterprises must compete with many other partners from South America, Asia, Africa, etc.
"We must be very vigilant, we should not, because it is easy, see this as a lucrative market, just export as much as possible, overwhelming the market share of their businesses, it will be very easy to be "whistled", causing difficulties for exports. Therefore, we must find ways to process deeply, connect with US businesses, attach our brand to their brand to share benefits with them, then the more we export, the more they will support and not encounter difficulties", Dr. Le Dang Doanh recommended.
For more information, Mr. Huynh Minh Triet, Trade Office of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, said that in addition to importing consumer goods from Vietnam, the US is also a supplier of many raw materials for production such as cotton, wood and many other items... The US also encourages Vietnamese businesses to expand their investment and production in the US.
According to Mr. Triet, the United States is the world’s largest consumer market and also a “launching pad” for businesses to export to other markets in the Americas. Therefore, when investing in production in the United States, businesses can also use local raw materials to save costs and meet origin requirements.
Export of agricultural products aims for over 26 billion USD
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang has just signed a Decision approving the Crop Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2050.
Accordingly, the Strategy sets a specific goal that by 2030, the average growth rate of crop production value will be 2.2 - 2.5%/year; the average growth rate of added value of crop product processing industry will be 8 - 10%/year.
The rate of production area using good agricultural practices (VietGAP and equivalent...) is 10 - 15%, organic cultivation is 1%. The rate of value of crop products produced under the forms of cooperation and association reaches 30 - 35%.
Export turnover of agricultural products reached over 26 billion USD. Average product value on cultivated land reached 150 - 160 million VND/ha.
By 2050, cultivation will become a modern technical economic sector, among the top in the region and the world. Cultivation products are produced according to high-tech agriculture, organic agriculture, food safety and environmental friendliness. Vietnam is a deep processing center of world agriculture.
The strategy identifies rice production development in concentrated planning areas with synchronous investment in transport, irrigation, and logistics infrastructure.
Maintain the area of 3.56 million hectares of rice land, of which 3 million hectares are specialized in wet rice cultivation, with an output of over 35 million tons of rice, as the core to ensure national food security, meeting the needs of consumption, processing, storage and export. Of which, specialty and high-quality rice accounts for 85 - 90%, rice used for processing accounts for 10 - 15%.
For vegetables, increase the area and diversify the types and seasons to meet the rapidly increasing domestic and export consumption demand. Along with that, build clusters linking production with processing and consumption in localities and regions with large vegetable output. Develop safe vegetable production areas, focusing on ensuring traceability.
Regarding coffee, the Strategy also identifies accelerating the issuance of codes for growing areas and traceability of origin. Promoting processing and diversifying coffee products, especially deep processing to increase value and differentiate Vietnamese coffee, associated with building and developing the Vietnamese coffee brand.
The strategy also clearly states the goals, tasks, and solutions for rubber and pepper trees in our country. Reorganize production, form key fruit tree production areas focused on promoting the potential and advantages of ecological regions, associated with the development of processing factories and consumption markets. Prioritize the development of some fruit trees with advantages and consumption markets such as mango, banana, dragon fruit, pineapple, etc.
In 2023, Vietnam's total agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover reached 53.01 billion USD . Among the 6 export items reaching over 3 billion USD, the names of items in the cultivation industry include: Vegetables and fruits reached 5.69 billion USD, up 69.2% over the same period last year; rice 4.78 billion USD, up 38.4%; cashew nuts 3.63 billion USD, up 17.6%; coffee 4.18 billion USD, up 3.1%.
More than 70% of manufacturing and processing enterprises are optimistic about export orders in the first quarter.
This is one of the notable contents mentioned in the report on Production and Business Trends in the Manufacturing and Construction Industry in the Fourth Quarter of 2023 and Forecast in the First Quarter of 2024 announced by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.
The survey on production and business trends in the fourth quarter of 2023 had the participation of 5,749 enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industry (accounting for 88.4% of the sampled enterprises) representing the entire processing and manufacturing industry of 63 provinces and centrally-run cities.
According to the survey results, 68.9% of enterprises assessed that the number of new orders increased and remained the same compared to the third quarter of 2023 (29.2% increased, 39.7% remained the same); 31.1% of enterprises assessed that the number of new orders decreased. By economic sector, the printing and copying of all kinds of records industry had the highest rate of enterprises assessing that new orders in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023 increased at 40.2%. In contrast, the other non-metallic mineral products manufacturing industry had the highest rate of enterprises assessing that orders decreased at 37.6%.
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| New orders of some key export enterprises have improved since the fourth quarter of 2023. (Source: Business Forum) |
The number of new orders in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 is forecast to increase with 72.7% of businesses forecasting an increase and remaining the same (29.3% increase, 43.4% remain the same), 27.3% of businesses forecast a decrease in the number of new orders.
For the export market, 67.4% of enterprises assessed that the number of new export orders in the fourth quarter of 2023 increased and remained the same compared to the third quarter of 2023 (22.4% increased, 45.0% remained the same), on the contrary, the proportion of enterprises assessing that new export orders decreased was 32.6%.
The results of the General Statistics Office also show that businesses forecast the number of new export orders in the first quarter of 2024 to be more positive, with 71.4% of businesses forecasting an increase and remaining the same compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 (24.6% increase, 46.8% remain the same); 28.6% of businesses forecast a decrease.
According to the General Statistics Office, the production and business activities of enterprises in the processing and manufacturing industry in the fourth quarter of 2023 have recovered more positively than the previous quarter, but the recovery rate is still slow. Non-state enterprises with a general balance index of 4.7% are better than state-owned enterprises and FDI enterprises (the general balance index of state-owned enterprises and FDI enterprises is -2.7% and -5.6%, respectively).
Some industries have signs of recovery faster than others, such as the leather and related products manufacturing industry, with the proportion of enterprises predicting an increase in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023 higher than other industries in the factors of "production volume", "export orders" and "labor use".
The motor vehicle manufacturing industry has a higher proportion of enterprises predicting an increase in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023 than other industries in the factors of “production volume” and “labor use”. The electronic, computer and optical products manufacturing industry has a higher proportion of enterprises predicting an increase in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2023 than other industries in the factors of “export orders” and “labor use”.
Vietnam is among the world's leading agricultural exporters.
The information was given by Minister of Science and Technology Huynh Thanh Dat at the conference to review the work of 2023 and deploy tasks for 2024 of the agricultural sector held on January 3.
Minister Dat highly appreciated the coordination between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2023. Many national-level science and technology tasks were carried out, contributing to creating breakthrough changes in agricultural production, restructuring the agricultural sector, and improving people's lives.
During the 2018-2023 period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recognized 215 new varieties, 121 technical advances, 42 inventions, 224 technical standards, and 125 issued technical processes.
He requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop a plan for the Government's action program issued under Resolution No. 189, implementing Resolution No. 36 on the development and application of biotechnology to serve the country's sustainable development in the new situation. One of the key tasks is to develop a project to develop biological agriculture into a technical economic sector in the agricultural sector.
In the coming period, he also suggested that the two sides coordinate in researching and developing national products; promote the application of radiation and irradiation methods. As of 2021, Vietnam has created and put into production 80 mutant plant varieties using irradiation methods, mainly rice varieties.
The Minister also pledged that "the Ministry of Science and Technology will accompany the Agriculture and Rural Development sector in all areas, especially the application of science and technology in agricultural production". Most recently, the two ministries coordinated to implement the Project on Sustainable Development of 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030.
The Ministry of Science and Technology recently reviewed and submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration the list of national products by 2030, in which, in addition to the national products of the previous period, there are also 6/10 new national products in the fields of agriculture and rural development.
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