Encourage dragon fruit exporting by sea

To reduce congestion at the northern land border gate, Binh Thuan Department of Industry and Trade encourages enterprises to export dragon fruits by sea to China.

There are about 400 containers of dragon fruit located at the northern border gates still waiting for customs clearance. Photo: KS.

400 containers of dragon fruit are still stuck at the border gate

Exporting to the Chinese market in recent months has encountered many difficulties due to that China has implemented measures to control the Covid-19 epidemic.

A representative of Be Dung Import-Export Trading - Service Co., Ltd (Muong Man commune, Ham Thuan Nam district) said that the enterprise currently has 2 container trucks (18 tonnes each) of dragon fruit, worth VND 400-500 million, stuck at Tan Thanh border gate. In which, one vehicle has been stuck for more than 20 days, the other has been stuck for 15 days and has not yet been cleared.

Meanwhile, dragon fruit stored on a refrigerated vehicle for 20-25 days will begin to discolor, and the fruit will start to be damaged. In the next few days, the truck still won't pass the border gate, the Company would be considered lost.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade Binh Thuan, it is estimated that there are about 400 containers of dragon fruit located at the northern border gates still waiting for customs clearance.

Previously, following the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh in the face of congestion of agricultural products at border gates in Lang Son province, the Chairman of Binh Thuan Provincial People's Committee sent a written request to the Department of Industry and Trade to proactively capture information and propagate to farmers, production facilities, and businesses, to strictly implement the recommendations of the Ministries of Industry and Trade and Agriculture and Rural Development on the export market and particularly China market and customs clearance activities at border gates.

Export by sea

Mr. Bien Tan Tai, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan Department of Industry and Trade, said that to export dragon fruits to the Chinese market through the northern border gates conveniently, avoiding congestion causing damage to businesses and farmers, the Department of Industry and Trade proposed businesses and cooperatives to actively develop production and business plans, ensuring the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic according to regulations.

The Department of Industry and Trade will continue to monitor and discuss regularly with the Department of Industry and Trade of the northern border provinces to grasp the situation and coordinate with relevant units to notify and advise businesses, cooperatives, and related units on the import and export situation. Along with that, the Department of Industry and Trade coordinated to guide and support dragon fruit export enterprises to divide their goods into many border gates, avoiding concentrating in one place to limit the phenomenon of goods congestion during the busy harvest.

The Department of Industry and Trade will also lobby enterprises to increase the official export of dragon fruits by sea to supply eastern provinces and cities of China such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zhejiang, Hubei… and some provinces further inland of your country.

In addition, with the support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, foreign diplomatic missions and trade counselors organize online conferences to promote and promote the export of agricultural products in complicated conditions of the Covid-19 epidemic in domestic and abroad.

In addition, Binh Thuan Department of Industry and Trade will continue to well implement cooperation and association programs between Binh Thuan province and other provinces, cities, regions, and regions to support businesses in promoting brands and introducing products, finding customers;

Implement trade promotion activities (directly, online) in the synchronous, focused, and effective manner;

Expand domestic and foreign consumption markets, quickly promote the consumption of agricultural products with large outputs that are already in season or about to be harvested;

Support enterprises, production, and business establishments of agricultural products to develop e-commerce and bring the province's agricultural products to participate in transactions at e-commerce platforms.

According to dragon fruit farmers in Binh Thuan province, from the beginning of November, Binh Thuan dragon fruit prices continuously go up to a peak of VND 18,000-19,000 per kilogram. However, about a week ago, the price of dragon fruit started to go down slightly, currently only VND 15,000-16,000.

Mr. Phan Van Tan, Deputy Director of Binh Thuan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, it is expected that from now until the Lunar New Year, the whole province will harvest from 100,000 to 120,000 tonnes of dragon fruit to meet market demand.