That was the information at the Forum “Connecting production and consumption of coconut products” organized by the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development – MARD) and related units on December 13 in Ben Tre, with two forms: direct and online.
Speaking at the opening of the forum, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy said that Vietnamese coconuts are now becoming an export product with high value. Products processed from coconuts have great potential to increase the value of coconut trees and increase income for people.
Statistics show that 30% of the coconut growing area has been recognized as meeting VietGAP standards and 30% has been granted a growing area code. From a modest figure of 180 million USD in export turnover in 2010, the coconut industry has grown strongly, reaching more than 900 million USD in 2023 and is expected to surpass the 1 billion USD mark in 2024.
Vietnamese coconuts are becoming a high-value export commodity.
China is the market with the largest demand for coconuts. Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the General Administration of Customs of China signed a protocol allowing official export of fresh coconuts, opening up great opportunities for fresh coconuts from Vietnam.
According to Ms. Thuy, besides producing and exporting fresh coconuts, the coconut processing industry is now very developed, accounting for more than 70% of export value.
In addition, the coconut tree is a tree that almost does not waste anything, which is also an important premise in the task of developing circular agriculture. Therefore, in order for coconut trees to avoid risks in the market, selling price as well as balancing supply and demand, there needs to be new products that integrate different values from the coconut tree.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh – President of the Vietnam Coconut Association shared that in order for the coconut industry to develop, it is necessary to share the interests of farmers and businesses harmoniously. She also pointed out the fact that in areas with good infrastructure in Ben Tre, the price of coconuts is at 70,000-100,000 VND/dozen, but in areas with poor infrastructure, the price of coconuts is much lower. Therefore, she suggested that coconut growing localities focus on upgrading infrastructure to promote the coconut industry in remote areas, creating favorable conditions for logistics.
Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, emphasized that since the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development included coconut in the list of key industrial crops, the coconut industry has seen significant changes. However, when trade agreements were signed, the coconut export tax rate was reduced to 0%, which is both a favorable condition and a challenge if we do not have a specific strategy. Therefore, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have issued many policies to develop the coconut industry, and localities need to take advantage of these policies to support people’s production activities.
As for Vietnamese enterprises, if they have high-quality raw materials domestically, they must have a strategy to increase product prices in the markets, to use that increase to support the purchase price for people, instead of finding ways to buy cheap raw materials and sell them at cheap prices as is currently the case./.
