Hanoi (VNA) - The agro-forestry-fishery export turnover reached 6.28 b🍸illion UಌSD in the first two months of 2023, a drop of 22.5% year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The ministry reported that in the January-February period, import-export revenue of the agro-forestry-fishery products was estimated at nearly 12 billion USD, down 16.8% year on year. In the period, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 559 million USD, down 68.5% over the same period last year. Due to the long Lunar New Year holiday, the January agro-forestry-fishery export value went down over 23% year on year. In February, the situation improved when the export revenue reached 3.4 billion USD, up 5.7% year-on-year and 18.1% month-on-month. Major currency earners in the month included major agricultural products (1.79 billion USD), livestock products (29 million USD), and input materials (158 million USD). However, export earnings from major forestry products dropped 10.7% to 872.1 million USD, while fisheries exports also fell 13.1% to 550 million USD. Items that saw hikes in export revenue included tea, up 5.1%; fruits and vegetables, 17.8%; cassava and cassava products, 32.7%; milk and dairy products, 10.2%; and meat and by-products, 14.2%. Meanwhile, such staples as coffee, rubber, rice, cashew nuts, pepper, tra fish (pangasius), shrimp, wood and wooden products, and rattan and bamboo products experienced decreases. In the first two months of the year, China was the largest importer of Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery products with a turnover of 1.27 billion USD. It was followed by the US with 1.19 billion USD. As for plans for the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said it will enhance the expansion of markets, remove obstacles, facilitate domestic consumption and export, and work with customs agencies in China’s Nanning and Yunnan to promote their trade cooperation. The ministry will also organise a vegetable and fruit export forum in the framework of the fifth International Exhibition and Conference for Horticultural and Floricultural Production and Processing Technology, which is slated to take place in Ho Chi Minh City early this month. According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), the seafood sector finds it hard to make breakthroughs in exports in the first months of the year as the global economy is forecast to enter a recession this year. China’s reopening is expected to recover demand in not only the northern neighbor but also other markets. However, Vietnam’s seafood sector may see obvious recovery results by the second quarter of this year at the latest. Similarly, the local wood sector may see a 50% reduction in sales until the end of this quarter. Orders are expected to recover next quarter, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association. Alongside, the ministry is also following market developments as well as the prices and supply of basic food and foodstuff products, while proposing the Government build a decree to manage Vietnamese national agricultural trademarks./.