International customers enjoy Vietnamese fruits at the Fruit Logistica 2023 held in Berlin. — VNA/VNS Photo Phương Hoa

BERLIN — Vietnamese fruits have been introduced at the Fruit Logistica 2023, the world's largest fruit and vegetable exhibition in the world, which is underway in Berlin from February 8-10.

The Vietnamese booth at the exhibition, jointly organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Trade Promotion Agency, the Vietnam Trade Office in Berlin and the Vietnam Fruit Association (Vinafruit), attracted a large number of visitors on the first day of the event. This is the third year that Việt Nam has taken part in the exhibition.

On February 8, a trade exchange was held between the Vietnamese enterprises with members of Germany’s Federal Association of Medium-Sized Enterprises BVMW, German firms and Vietnamese companies in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.

At the event, the Vinafruit and BVMW signed a memorandum of understanding on supporting businesses of both sides to strengthen cooperation in fruit export and distribution in the German market.

Highlighting the increasing competitiveness of Vietnamese products’ competitiveness, Vietnamese Ambassador to Germany Vũ Quang Minh said he hopes the firms will optimise preferential tax rates from free trade agreements to boost exports of fruits and vegetables in the promising German market.

He pledged that the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnam Trade Office will give best support to Vietnamese firms in connecting with their peers in Germany to strengthen exports to Germany and the EU in general, thus optimising the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

Meanwhile, Vinafruit Chairman Nguyễn Thanh Bình said that the exhibition is a great chance for Vietnamese firms to expand their market.

Data from the MoIT showed that after the EVFTA took effect, Việt Nam’s exports of fruits to Europe has risen 25-30 per cent.

Trần Văn Công, Vietnamese Trade Councillor in Germany, said that the EU has been an important and promising market with annual consumption of over US$110 billion worth of goods. However, Việt Nam’s fruit export revenue from the market is still modest at over $200 million, accounting for only 0.02 per cent of the EU’s spending on the product.

Underlining that the EVFTA, which brings import tax of Vietnamese fruits to 0 per cent, is offering great opportunities for Việt Nam in the EU, he noted that last year, exports of fruits to the EU rose nearly 14 per cent.

Công advised domestic firms to focus on developing farming areas as well as preservation stage, ensuring that Vietnamese products are origin traceable, meeting requirements of the EU. — VNS