Friday,02/10/2009 - 09:35

Vietnam: Agricultural exports to meet targets

The ministry projected agricultural, forestry and seafood export value in 2009 to reach a total of US$15 billion, higher than the Government& # 39;s target of $12.5 billion but lower than 2008& # 39;s total of $16.2 billion, said Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ho Xuan Hung. Enterprises were being urged to boost production and exports through the end of this year to ensure that targets would be met, he added. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that production capacity remained high and that demand in export markets was likely to increase between now and the end of the year due to the ongoing recovery of the global economy and increased consumption ahead of the holidays. Likely to help spur exports to particular markets, the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement would take effect next month, bringing advantages in tax rates to 86 per cent of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and seafood products imported into Japan, the ministry said. Spain also announced its determination that Vietnamese tra and basa fish products reached EU food safety and hygiene requirements, creating favourable conditions for increasing exports to the Spanish market. Spanish was already the leading importer of Vietnamese catfish in EU countries, with a yearly average of 40,000 tonnes. In the first nine months of this year, the total national export value for agricultural, forestry and seafood products reached $11 billion, 12 per cent lower than the same period last year, according to figures from MARD, attributing the decline to falling global prices, as well as demand depressed by the economic downturn. Vinanet