From only 180 million USD in export turnover in 2010, the coconut industry has reached more than 900 million USD in 2023 and could surpass 1 billion USD in 2024.
Vietnam's coconut industry is gradually becoming a key economic sector in some regions and is expected to achieve export turnover exceeding 1 billion USD - Photo: MAU TRUONG
At the forum 'Connecting production and consumption of coconut products' held on December 13 in Ben Tre province, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy - Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) - said that currently, the Vietnamese coconut industry has an area of nearly 200,000 hectares and is becoming one of the key economic sectors in the Central Coast provinces and the Mekong Delta.
From a modest export turnover of only 180 million USD in 2010, the coconut industry has grown strongly, reaching more than 900 million USD in 2023 and is expected to surpass the 1 billion USD mark in 2024.
According to Ms. Thuy, positive steps such as the US and Europe's approval of Vietnamese coconuts, along with negotiations with China on official exports, have created a great premise for market expansion and sustainable development of the coconut industry.
In particular, recently the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China signed a protocol allowing fresh coconuts to be officially exported to China, opening up many opportunities for Vietnamese coconuts.
China is currently a very important market for coconuts, consuming 4 billion coconuts every year, including about 2.6 billion fresh ones... While demand is high but China's production capacity is limited, this is an opportunity for Vietnamese coconuts.
Participating in the forum, Mr. Nguyen Phong Phu - Technical Director of Vina T&T Group Company - said that the Chinese market brings many great opportunities for Vietnamese coconut exports, but also poses many challenges.
According to Mr. Phu, in terms of advantages, China is a populous market with high demand for coconut products, especially fresh coconut, coconut water, coconut oil and processed coconut products.
With its close geographical location, Vietnam has a competitive advantage in terms of transportation costs compared to its rivals from Southeast Asia and Africa. In addition, free trade agreements between ASEAN and China facilitate tariff reduction and boost trade.
A representative of Vina T&T Group noted that exporting coconuts to China also faces many difficulties. China is increasingly raising standards on plant quarantine, quality and food safety. Fierce competition from other coconut producing countries such as Thailand and Indonesia requires businesses to improve their products and maintain reasonable prices.
In addition, changes in import policies; transportation costs, storage and logistics handling remain a challenge, especially for fresh coconuts that require careful preservation. In particular, the heavy dependence on the Chinese market can easily lead to risks if this market changes suddenly.
At the forum, professional agencies proposed many solutions to remove difficulties for businesses in exporting fresh coconuts to the Chinese market and at the same time guided people to fully exploit the value of coconut trees.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xuat-khau-nganh-dua-vuot-moc-1-ti-usd-20241213140259293.htm
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