HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Fruitand vegetable exports are showing signs of recovery after a slump in the firstthree quarters of the year.

Dinh Gia Nghia, deputy general director of vegetable andfruit producer and exporter Doveco, said that COVID-19 did not affect thecompany much since large customers had faith in its ability to supply.

Thecompany has a lot of orders for the rest of the year, he said, adding that theEuropean Union–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) isproving beneficial.

Beforethe EVFTA came into effect in August, exports of vegetables and fruits weredown, with prices dropping as a result of lack of demand.

Thefirst nine months of the year saw a 11 percent fall in exports, but the lastquarter is seeing a recovery in terms of orders.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, chairman of fruit exporter Vina T&TGroup, told Dau Tu (Investment) newspaper that many largemarkets continue to buy fruits from Vietnam, whichcould help businesses increase their exports to make up for the previous lackof sales.

Thecompany had expected to see a big drop in exports this year, but is nowconfident they would be higher than last year, he said.

Exportsof fruits and vegetables to the EU have increased since the trade deal tookeffect and removed tariffs.

Businessesalso have major expansion plans to ensure future growth, and to make use of theEVFTA, they are focusing on modern technologies to process products that arepopular in the EU.

Nguyen Quoc Toan, head of the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development’s department of processing and agriculture marketdevelopment, said the agricultural sector is making an effort inachieving this year’s export target of 40 billion USD, and fruits and vegetables are expected tocontribute around 3.5 - 3.6 billion USD./.