The first day of the fruit festival in Tien Giang province attracted a large number of visitors and businesses. By the end of the first day, more than 800 stalls had sold out all their fruit.

 

As part of the festival, a national seminar was held on April 20 to discuss opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese fruit growers during the processm of international economic integration process.

 

Vietnam has 770,000ha of orchards that produce around 7 million tonnes of fruit each year. Last year’s fruit production value reached nearly VND10,000 billion and export revenue passed the US$230 million mark.

 

Participants in the seminar said that Vietnam has a great potential for fruit growing but its competitiveness remains poor due to a lack of coordination between the State, scientists, businesses and farmers.

 

They stressed that to help domestic fruit secure a firm foothold in the international markets, Vietnamese fruit growers need to have proper cultivation plans, apply advanced technologies in planting harvesting and preservation, step up advertisement, and build up trademarks to meet the requirements of demanding markets such as the EU and the US.

 

(VOV)