Bac Giang to host lychee trade promotion teleconference next month

Bac Giang - The northern province of Bac Giang will host a teleconference on June 6 to promote the domestic consumption and export of lychee, a local specialty, as the harvest season has just come.

A farmer harvests lychee in Hong Giang commune, Luc Ngan district, the northern province of Bac Giang. (Photo: VNA)

The video conference will connect representatives from the Government Office, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, trade offices and embassies in Vietnam of China, Japan, and Thailand, leading local and foreign retailers such as Aeon, the Central Group, Mega Market, Saigon Co.op, Hapro and Vinmart, and a number of major wholesale markets and distributors.

It is part of a series of promotional events Bac Giang is holding to boost sales of lychee.

Luc Ngan and Tan Yen districts, home to the largest lychee areas in the province, will prepare a list of foreign wholesalers who have demand for lychee and ask authorities to allow their entry into Vietnam to purchase the fruit. They will also formulate plans to quarantine these traders, in line with regulations.

Bac Giang currently has more than 28,100 ha of lychee, with output likely to increase 10,000 tonnes to 160,000 tonnes this year. This includes 45,000 tonnes of early-ripening lychee harvested on an estimated area of 6,000 ha and 115,000 tonnes of lychee from the main crop on an area of 22,100 ha.

The harvest is expected to last until July 10.

VietGAP-standard lychee has been grown on 15,000 ha this year, or half of the province’s total area. Output is forecast at 110,000 tonnes, or 68.7 percent of the total.

Bac Giang has developed different plans and scenarios for lychee trade promotion this year in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which is still ravaging many countries around the world. It has set its sights on several main markets, such as Japan, the US, Australia, the EU, and China.

Japan has approved a total of 19 Production Unit Codes (PUCs) for 103 ha of lychee in the province, including 98 ha in Luc Ngan and 5 ha in Tan Yen.

The province has also received 18 PUCs for 218 ha of lychee in Luc Ngan’s six communes for export to the US, Australia, and the EU.