Speaking at the event, Vietrade Director Vu Ba Phu reported that dragon fruit ranks first in terms of competitive advantage among 11 Vietnamese fruits and it is often listed in the group of products earning billions of USD from export.
Dragon fruit is entering the harvest season with an estimated output of 1.45 million tonnes in 2021, up 10% year-on-year, he said.
However, he noted that the domestic consumption and export of dragon fruit, and farm produce in general, is facing negative impacts from COVID-19 in several south central and southern localities, including Binh Thuan Province and Long An province, which have large areas for the production of dragon fruit. Accordingly, Binh Thuan has 33,73 hectares growing dragon fruit with an estimated output of 650,000 tonnes this year, while that of Long An is 330,000 tonnes.
He expressed his hope that the conference will provide businesses and localities with an opportunity to learn more about the market situations, demands and requirements of the Indian and Pakistani markets in order to introduce the potential and strengths of Vietnamese dragon fruit products to Indian and Pakistani partners and seek future business cooperation opportunities.
For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau affirmed that the Vietnamese diplomatic corp. and the trade office in India always made their efforts to connect Vietnamese exporters with the Indian market.
He noted with pleasure that the value of Vietnamese dragon fruit exports to India has increased to 52% in 2020 from 26% in 2015, adding that India has a huge demand for this fruit.
Meanwhile, Bui Trung Thuong - Counsellor and Head of Vietnamese Trade Office in India - noted that the competition among suppliers will become more intense at a time when the Indian market is suffering from COVID-19, thus he requested Vietnamese enterprises to foster the application of science and technology to innovate products.
Regarding the Pakistani market, Nguyen Thi Diep Ha from the Vietnamese Trade Office in Pakistan said that as the country has not yet imported fresh fruit from Vietnam, Vietnamese businesses will need to make thorough plans to bring Vietnamese dragon fruit to Pakistan.
Echoing the same view, Vietnamese Ambassador to Pakistan Nguyen Tien Phong suggested Vietnamese businesses learn about consumption habits to approach the market appropriately.
