Farm exports targeted at US$38.4 billion by 2020

Fishermen on board a boat full of newly caught fish. Vietnam expects to obtain total agro-forestry-fishery exports of US$38.4 billion by 2020 - PHOTO: NGOC HUNG

HCMC – Vietnam expects to obtain total agro-forestry-fishery exports of US$38.4 billion by 2020, up 20% last year, according to a decision of the Prime Minister.

On August 3, the PM issued Decision 1137/QD-TTg approving a project to improve the competitiveness of Vietnam’s key export items by 2020 with a vision towards 2030.

The products with strong export competitiveness, according to the decision, belong to agriculture, fishery and processing sectors, such as textiles, plastics and footwear, and are mainly produced by domestic firms.

Hi-tech products such as phones, computers, cameras and machinery are identified as advantageous products for export. However, these are mainly manufactured by foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises in Vietnam.

Therefore, agriculture, textile and footwear shipments are expected to contribute a majority of revenue to the export sector in the years to come.

According to a report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, farm exports reached over US$32 billion last year, up 5.4% versus 2015.

Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said the target is a motivation for the sector to have appropriate marketing and trade promotion strategies to export farm produce, seafood and forestry products.

The 20% average seafood export growth target by 2020 seems obtainable as the fishery sector can earn US$10 billion if enterprises focus on exporting value added products to choosy markets such as the EU, Japan and the U.S., said Hoe.

In the first seven months of the year, Vietnam’s seafood exports amounted to US$4.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.5%. VASEP has forecast that the sector can get US$8 billion this year.

The Government, through Decision 1137, has directed ministries and agencies to raise the proportion of high value-added products and reduce the exportation of unprocessed products.

Ministries and agencies will have to support enterprises to expand markets, especially those having signed free trade agreements (FTA) with Vietnam.