Paris (VNA) – More than 30Vietnamese agricultural businesses are running fruit and spice stalls as partof a Vietnam farm produce week starting June 26 at the Rungis InternationalMarket in Paris.

It took the Ministries of Industry andTrade, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Hanoi Promotion Agency one year ofpreparation for the event to take place, marking the first large-scaleintroduction of Vietnamese agricultural products to French importers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of theevent, Stéphane Layani, President and Director General of the RungisInternational Market, praised the quality of Vietnamese farm produce,particularly lychees, dragon fruit and coconuts.

He said he believes the products will be ahit in France and also Europe and other parts of the world.

Vietnam can be considered an agriculturalpower but it lacks a large wholesale market to distribute products, he said,noting that Rungis is a trustworthy location for Vietnamese farm produce toreach European consumers.

Layani said Rungis is willing to cooperatewith Hanoi to build a wholesale market meeting European standards.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s CommitteeNguyen Duc Chung said the model of the Rungis market, which spans over 230hectares, records 9 billion EUR in annual revenue and offers top quality farmproduce, can be applied in Vietnam, particularly Hanoi.

He stated Hanoi wants to work with Semmaris,the company that manages the Rungis International Market, to study thefeasibility of investing in a wholesale market in Hanoi following the Rungismodel.

The event, featuring a space of Vietnameseculinary delights cooked by French chef Didier Corlou, received a warm welcomefrom visitors.

Vietnam’s fruit, vegetables and seafood arenow available across 180 countries and territories. Earning 36 billion USD fromagro-forestry-fishery exports in 2017, Vietnam was ranked among 15 biggestexporters of the products in the world.-VNA