Hanoi (VNA) - Exports and imports of agricultural goods saw a decline in thefirst five months of 2020 due to the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD)’s monthlyreport last week.

Of which, export value in theperiod dropped 4.1 percent year-on-year to 15.5 billion USD.

Coffee, rice and vegetableswere among the commodities with the strongest export growth, whereas rubber,tea and pepper saw a sharp fall.

China is Vietnam’s largest exporting market of agricultural products, withexport turnover of 3.7 billion USD, a 15.5 percent drop in value. It wasclosely followed by the US and the EU, reaching 3.4 billion USD and 1.6 billionUSD, respectively.

Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the MARD’s Agro Processing and Market DevelopmentDepartment, says the ministry will closely observe the situation inCOVID-19-affected markets to provide corresponding solutions.

“We will collaborate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, agencies andcompanies to closely monitor the price, supply and demand of essentialagricultural goods in the domestic market to ensure food security in Vietnam whilestill maintaining agricultural exports,” he said.

The ministry will also focus on resolving technical barriers in agriculturaltrade, as well as expanding and diversifying markets through negotiations withtrade partners./.