The organization of Vietnam’s first ever fruit festival is aimed at turning Vietnam into a major global fruit exporter, said Tran The Ngoc, people’s committee chairman of Tien Giang Province, which is hosting the event, has said.
Speaking on its sidelines, he said though the country hopes to earn $1 billion from fruit exports by 2015, its real potential remains unrealized because of the technical dependence on other countries.
The festival would also help boost eco-tourism in the country, provide a chance to honor fruit farmers, scientists, and businesses for their contributions, and create a foundation for policymakers to make a master plan for development of fruit farming.
Though there are some who think it is a waste of money – just like other recent festivals featuring flowers, rice, and cashew -- most people support the organizers since they realize rice and fruits are vital agricultural export items.
The cost of the event, of around VND25 billion (US$1.3 million), has been underwritten by businesses and social organizations who realize its importance to the nation.
Tien Giang, which has 68,000 hectares of orchards and 25,000 fruit farmers, is trying to draft a plan for fruit cultivation and trading that would factor in the adoption of national and international fruit farming standards and practices like Viet GAP and Global GAP.
It is assisting fruit business in organizing trade promotions, participating in trade fairs, zoning areas to grow certain fruits, and getting easy credit.
But since these efforts are often stymied by red tape, there must also be a breakthrough in administrative reform.
As a pioneer in zoning land for orchards specializing in certain fruits following Viet GAP and Global GAP standards, the province hopes to become a regional coordinator in fruit cultivation, processing, and exports.
Vietnam is the fourth largest fruit exporter among Asean member-countries behind Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The Mekong Delta is the nation’s fruit orchard, having some 262,100 hectares under various fruits.
Vietnam’s fruit exports were worth $439 million last year, up from $213 million in 2000, with the fruits being shipped to 50 foreign markets compared to 32 a decade ago.
John Hey, editor-in-chief of Asia Fruit magazine, said at the festival that Vietnam should target more exports to the 16 western European nations who import 73 million tons of vegetables and fruits every year, and are increasingly importing tropical fruits.
But since those countries and other developed nations are getting used to consuming packaged fruit, Vietnam should modernize it fruit processing industry, he added.
The Vietnamese fruit farming sector needs to standardize the harvest and post-harvest stages to meet international standards and step up advertising and marketing in foreign markets.
Harvest and post-harvest technologies focus on the sterilization and preservation of fruits.
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