Ben Tre (VNA) - A ceremony was held in the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre onSeptember 17 to announce the first shipment of its fruit to the EU under the EU-VietnamFree♍ Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

General Director of theVina T&T Group Nguyen Dinh Tung said that after more than one month ofnegotiations, the company will export 20,000 fresh coconuts to the UK, 12tonnes of pomelo to Germany, and three tonnes of dragon fruit to theNetherlands. Deputy Minister ofAgriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said the EVFTA opens up hugeopportunities for Vietnamese farm produce in general and fruit in particular. More than a monthsince the EVFTA took effect, many types of Vietnamese agricultural products have beenshipped to the bloc, such as brackish-water shrimp from the central province of Ninh Thuan and coffeeand passion fruit from the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai. About 40 types ofVietnamese fruit and vegetables are now exported to 60 countries andterritories. Apart from traditional markets, fruit is also found in demandingmarkets such as the US, the EU, Japan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.  In the first sevenmonths of this year, fruit exports to the EU earned 59.18 million USD in revenue,accounting for 73.54 percent of total fruit and vegetable shipments to the bloc.The figure is expected to keep growing despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice Chairman of theprovincial People’s Committee Nguyen Huu Lap said Ben Tre still possesses hugepotential to ship tropical fruit to the EU, in particular coconuts. It has atotal cultivation area of nearly 73,000 ha of coconut trees with an output of more than 626,000tonnes.

The𒅌 province is ho🍒meto around 4,000 ha of certified organic coconut and some 30,000 ha of other fruit,with a total output of over 330,000 tonnes./.