According to the latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of July 2024, our country's fruit and vegetable exports earned 3.8 billion USD, a sharp increase of 24.3% over the same period last year.

Regarding export markets in the first half of this year, China led with a turnover of 2.16 billion USD, up 22.5% over the same period last year and accounting for nearly 65% ​​of the total export turnover of this industry in our country.

Notably, South Korea has surpassed the US to become the second largest customer of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exports. In the first half of this year, fruit and vegetable exports to this market reached 164 million USD, up 55.6% over the same period in 2023. Accordingly, among the top 10 key markets, export turnover to South Korea recorded a strong growth rate, second only to Thailand.

Recently, the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) announced more good news when Vietnamese grapefruit was officially allowed to be imported into the Korean market.

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Vietnamese grapefruit is officially exported to the Korean market. Photo: Tam An

Specifically, on July 30, after 3 months of widely consulting with relevant parties, the Korean Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) officially announced on the APQA website the import regulations for fresh grapefruit from Vietnam to Korea.

According to the Plant Protection Department, since 2018, this unit has initiated a program to open the market for Vietnamese grapefruit exported to Korea. However, the negotiation process only really accelerated after the Covid-19 pandemic.

After 2 years of coordination and information exchange to promote the process of conducting pest risk analysis and going through many rounds of negotiations, the Plant Protection Department and APQA reached a technical agreement in a bilateral meeting in April 2024.

On July 18, 2024, the Plant Protection Department also posted on its website a draft of requirements on plant quarantine and food safety for fresh grapefruit imported from Vietnam into Korea so that interested organizations and individuals can learn and have information about these regulations in advance.

Thus, grapefruit is the third fresh fruit from Vietnam allowed to be imported into Korea, along with dragon fruit and mango.

Currently, our country has about 105,400 hectares of grapefruit, with an estimated output of 905 thousand tons. Grapefruit varieties are diverse, typical of each region. Specifically, the Red River Delta has more than 13,000 hectares with an output of over 175 thousand tons; the Northern midlands and mountainous areas have more than 30,000 hectares, with an output of 253 thousand tons. The Mekong Delta alone has about 32,000 hectares, with an output of about 369 thousand tons...

The fact that Vietnamese grapefruit is allowed to be imported into Korea is an important step forward, opening up great opportunities for our country's agricultural products to access the international market, while affirming the quality and reputation of Vietnamese agricultural products in the world market.

Vietnamese grapefruit is in its scarcest season, some types are twice as expensive . Vietnamese grapefruit production is up to more than 1.1 million tons per year, but at this time in the market, grapefruit prices have increased sharply, some types have doubled.