Vietnamese vegetables and fruits are massively exported to Thailand

Thailand is the biggest fruit and vegetable exporter in South-East Asia. However, this year, Vietnamese fruits and vegetables exported to Thailand have increased rapidly.

Dragon fruit is one of the four Vietnamese fruits that has been officially licensed for export to Thailand. Photo: Minh Hau.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in September 2020, the export value of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to Thai market continued to grow strongly. In particular, the export value reached over US$ 17 million, increased 134.5% compared to September 2019.

Thus, in the first 9 months of 2020, Vietnamese fruits and vegetables exported to Thailand reached the value of US$ 120 million, increased 211.6% compared to the same period last year.

With the above export value, Thailand has jumped to third place after China and the US, among the largest markets of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables.

However, the Agency of Foreign Trade (Ministry of Industry and Trade) stated that the prospect of exporting Vietnamese fruits and vegetables to Thailand in the upcoming time will face many difficulties due to the fact that agricultural products require increasingly high technical requirements, in accordance to European standards.

After Thailand issued new standards on pesticide residues on imported agricultural products, some export orders of dragon fruits from Vietnam to Thailand were returned due to violation of regulation on pesticide residues.

So far, Thailand has officially given import permission to only four Vietnamese fruits, namely red and white dragon fruit, mango, longan and lychee.