Farmers in Vinh Binh Bac commune, Vinh Thuan district (Kien Giang) harvest giant freshwater prawns. - VNA/VNS Photo

KIÊN GIANG – The Mekong Delta province of Kiên Giang raked in over US$290 million from exports in the first four months of this year, accounting for 31.6% of the annual target and up 21.26% from the same period last year.

According to the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, key foreign currency earners included rice, seafood and footwear products, which contributed $100.43 million, 64.53 million, and $78.10 million, respectively.Director of the Department of Industry and Trade Truong Van Minh attributed the increase in export revenue to the efforts and flexibility of local businesses, given a decline in demand in many major markets and the difficulties facing the global economy.

Currently, 41 local enterprises are engaging in export, shipping goods to 41 markets in the world. Among them, the Asian market accounts for 83.25% of the total export turnover and the rest are Africa, Europe, America, and Oceania.

The official said that to achieve this year's target of $1 billion in export turnover, the province will focus on implementing supporting policies to reduce production costs and creating favourable conditions for businesses to receive preferential capital from the State to help them stabilise their production and push up export activities.

He went on to say that trade promotions and market exploration will be stepped up towards diversifying sources of supply, partners, suppliers of raw materials and fuel to meet the production, business and export needs of businesses.

Kien Giang will support enterprises in responding to trade barriers, including trade defence measures as well as improving their capacity to participate in the global value chain, apply e-commerce in market access, and diversify export markets, Minh said.

Enterprises will be encouraged to promote production and processing in line with the trend of producing organic products, reducing carbon emissions while strictly abiding by food safety regulations, ensuring product traceability, he added. - VNS