Joining the trip was a delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ambassadors from Palestine, Uruguay, Laos, Chile, Venezuela, South Africa, Cambodia, Myanmar, Italy, Algeria, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Colombia and Turkey.
Addressing the event, Assistant Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Vu said following the success of the province’s previous trade, investment and tourism promotion events, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs partners with Hung Yen City, the provincial capital, to organise this gathering at the time the province is entering the peak longan harvest season.
Vu highly spoke of the city’s initiative to host the event, saying it will help the Hung Yen popularise its culture, destinations, people and signature farm produce among international guests. It will also enable the city to build its brand and identity and make longan the province’s key export item in both regional and global markets, he added.
On behalf of the diplomatic corps, Ambassador of Palestine to Vietnam Saadi Salama said he is honoured to visit Hung Yen and come to know its renown longan products. Through the visit, visitors get to explore and know better about the city’s land and people, given that it is a young and developing city close to Hanoi with great promise, he noted.
The ambassador further said that the city of Hung Yen has within itself traditional cultural elements as well as the dynamics, modernity and friendliness of a metropolis. With the famously delicious specialty fruit, Hung Yen has left great and unforgettable impression on international guests, according to Salama.
The foreign guests later took a tour around longan farms in Hong Nam commune where there are many centuries-old longan trees used to produce offerings to kings. The commune is now home to nearly 150 hectares of longan grown under the Vietnam Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) which generates more than 2,000 tonnes of fresh longan annually. Several farms here have been granted with Production Unit Code (PUC) for export to the US.
Secretary of the Hung Yen City Party’s Committee Pham Huy Binh briefed the guests on the city’s competitive edges and social, economic and cultural development in the past and today. The city grows more than 1,000 hectares of longan, including 430 hectares cultivated under VietGAP, with total annual output of over 13,000 tonnes.
He expected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the international guests will act as a bridge for the city and the province at large to access new opportunities for cooperation with foreign localities, organisations and enterprises in the coming time.
Longan is a tropical fruit which is rich in nutrients. There are many varieties of longan nationwide but Hung Yen’s “long” longan, known as the fruit of the kings, is the most famous for its thick pulp and very sweet taste.
The northern province is home to about 4,800 hectares of longan, of which more than 1,300 hectares have met VietGAP standards, mostly distributed in Hung Yen city, Khoai Chau, Kim Dong, Tien Lu, Phu Cu and An Thi districts. Total longan output is over 40,000 tonnes per year. Last year, Hung Yen longan made debut on a number of e-commerce platforms, such as sendo.vn and postmart.vn.
Last year, Vietnam exported over 117,500 tonnes of longan, including over 11,000 tonnes of fresh product. Vietnam fresh longan is currently sold in 17 countries and territories worldwide.
