On April 26, the Bac Giang Department of Industry and Trade held an online conference to connect trade and promote the consumption of lychee, key and potential products of the province into the US market.
Delegates attended from dozens of domestic and foreign bridge points, 12 of which are in the US. At Bac Giang bridge point, Mr. Phan The Tuan, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, and representatives of some units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, provincial departments, and enterprises inside and outside the province also joined.
Delegates co-chaired the conference.
PROPOSAL TO SOLVE ISSUES OF TRANSPORT AND IRRADIATION RATES
At the beginning of the conference, Mr. Tran Quang Tan, Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that Bac Giang has many advantages and potentials for agricultural development, with a rich and diverse fruit tree system and many famous agricultural products.
Some products are highly appreciated by domestic and foreign markets in terms of quality and safety such as Ban Ven tea and products processed from rice (Chu rice noodles) with an output of tens of thousands of tons; citrus trees (oranges, grapefruit) with an annual output of nearly 90,000 tons; forestry trees with an output of more than 600,000m3 of wood/year and will continue to increase in the coming years.
In particular, Bac Giang has the largest lychee area in the country. Over the years, the province has consistently kept the view: Superior quality, unique characteristics, food safety, and traceability make a sustainable foothold in both domestic and foreign markets.
This year, thanks to favorable weather, lychee grows well, so the production is forecast to reach more than 180,000 tons (early lychee output of about 60,000 tons, main-crop lychee of 120,000 tons). Lychee is expected to be exported to the US with 17 planting area codes (issued by the US), an area of 205 ha, and an output of 1,500 tons.
Bac Giang province identifies the US as a potential market with great purchasing power. Lychee and other agricultural products of the province exported to this market still have some difficulties in transportation costs and technologies to preserve lychee exported by sea. It is recommended that the Trade Promotion Department and the European-American Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) have orientations to help the province in promoting the consumption of lychee and other strong items in the US.
Pay attention to introducing and connecting US and Vietnamese businesses in the US operating in the field of exporting and importing agricultural products. Bac Giang will provide and introduce businesses in the area meeting the requirements. the Hanoi Irradiation Center is required to help Bac Giang irradiate lychee in Hanoi for export to the US.
Here, a representative of Vietnamese businesses in the US stated that Bac Giang lychee currently enters the United States with high prices due to high freight. Therefore, it is difficult to compete with other products of the same type in this market. In addition, the quality and product code are not uniform, so they have not created their own unique set of products yet.
Regarding the irradiation of lychee in Hanoi, a representative of the Hanoi Irradiation Center said that the unit has worked with US enterprises to calibrate the parameters as required by the importing country. The unit tries to equip full machines for lychee irradiation in Hanoi.
Bac Giang aims to export 1,500 tons of lychee to the United States.
According to Mr. Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam Trade Office in the US, the potential for exporting Bac Giang lychee to the US is great. However, bringing this product to the US is difficult due to geographical distance and preservation technology. The Trade Office always makes efforts to promote Bac Giang products at events organized by this unit.
To export lychee successfully, Bac Giang needs to coordinate to enjoy flight price incentives for Vietnamese lychee to the US, removing difficulties in freight rates. At the same time, the province should choose the appropriate preservation technology, meeting the requirements of US import standards.
CREATE THE MOST FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR BUSINESSES TO CONSUME LYCHEE
Speaking at the conference, Mr. Phan The Tuan emphasized that in the socio-economic development strategy, Bac Giang attaches special importance to free trade agreements to which Vietnam is a member. Bac Giang province has developed an international economic integration plan, an import and export plan until 2025, with a vision to 2030 with specific export solutions, especially for key agricultural products of the province.
The US is a large and potential market. Goods eligible for export to the US can be exported to many other countries around the world. Therefore, Bac Giang has focused on applying scientific and technical advances to create high-quality products that meet the strictest standards to serve this market.
In the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has been complicated that greatly affected the supply chain and consumption of goods. In such difficult conditions, Bac Giang province has implemented a series of trade promotion activities to support the consumption of lychee and key agricultural products.
The province also organized many conferences and seminars with Vietnamese diplomatic agencies in the US to promote the development of trade and import-export of goods. Today’s conference is a great opportunity for businesses of Bac Giang province to cooperate, and promote the production, business, and exports of lychee and key products of the province to the US. The opinions at the conference all shared the same viewpoint of accompanying Bac Giang province to achieve the above goal.
Bac Giang Provincial People’s Committee directed departments and localities to concretize each group of issues such as Focusing on production, improving the quality of lychee; conditions for exporting lychee to the US; connection in export activities; and solving difficulties of enterprises.
Bac Giang is committed to creating the best conditions to support domestic and foreign enterprises to invest in production, trade activities, export, and import of goods, especially lychee export. All the recommendations of enterprises were resolved promptly.
The signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in exporting lychee to the US in Bac Giang.
Mr. Phan The Tuan assigned the Department of Industry and Trade to be the focal point to receive recommendations and suggestions from enterprises in exporting lychee and key products of the province. The Department needs to regularly coordinate with the Vietnam Trade Office in the US to firmly grasp the market, and the regulations of the US Government on import and export activities, and promptly guide enterprises to implement.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development actively cooperates with agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, irradiation units, and packaging establishments to carefully prepare standardized and safe conditions for lychee export.
Luc Ngan and Tan Yen districts strictly manage planting codes of lychee, and codes of the local packaging facility; fully prepare the conditions to support lychee harvest, overcome all the shortcomings of previous years, and ensure successful consumption of lychee in 2023.
On the same day, in Bac Giang, the signing ceremony of a memorandum of cooperation for lychee export to the US took place./.