Currently, Vietnam has exported fresh durian to 24 markets. If the Indian market is opened next year, Vietnam’s durian will have a lot of opportunities to develop.
OPENING THE INDIAN MARKET FOR DURIAN
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong – Deputy Director of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), so far, in addition to China, Vietnam’s fresh durian has been exported to 23 markets. In the first 08 months of 2023, the export volume of fresh durians reached more than 300,000 tons.
Vietnam now has 23 export markets of frozen durian while only 10 markets in 2023.
“The durian export markets are very diverse, apart from China which accounts for about 90% of fresh durian exports, other markets also have room for development,” said Ms. Huong.
Particularly for the Chinese market, Vietnam began exporting officially in 2022 after the Protocol was signed in July 2022.
Up to now, Vietnam has 422 planting areas and 153 packaging facilities approved by the General Administration of Customs of China. In addition, there are 64 planting areas and 15 packaging facilities in the process of completing the requirements at the request of the Chinese side to be issued with codes. There are more than 600 planting area codes and 50 packaging facilities that the Plant Protection Department is preparing to send to China Customs for their approval.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Huong added that the Plant Protection Department is negotiating to expand the export market for durian. Specifically, the Department is working with India to be able to open the market to export durians.
Hopefully, in the next year 2024, Vietnam can export durians to this market. This is a billion population market which is very potential but not easy. Therefore, Vietnam’s durian industry has a lot of market space to develop as long as we ensure production and quality.
In addition to opening the market, the Plant Protection Department will negotiate with China Customs to increase the number of planting areas and packaging facilities granted with codes.
Regarding comments on durian exports growing hot last year and this year, Ms. Huong said that: We also need to recognize that before July 2022, Vietnam had not unlocked the largest durian consumption market in the world – China. Therefore, if we only need to export 100 tons, it means that we have increased 100 times over the previous year. Exporting durians to this market is a long journey, not just in a few years./.