Vietnam’s coconut industry eyes 1 billion USD in export turnover

At the second congress of the Vietnam Coconut Association. (Photo: VNA)

The Vietnam Coconut Association (VCA) set a target of 1 billion USD in export revenue at its second congress for the 2023-2028 tenure recently held in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to VCA Deputy General Secretary Cao Ba Dang Khoa, coconut has been planted on a total area of some 200,000 hectares across the nation, generating incomes for nearly 390,000 farmer households.

Earlier, coconut’s values were not tapped to the fullest extent, resulting in the export turnover of just over 100,000 USD in 2009, he said, adding during its first tenure of 2010-2023, the VCA has recommended policies and orientations to develop the coconut industry to competent ministries and sectors, while connecting with food, handicraft and plantation industries to improve coconut products’ competitiveness.

Additionally, the association has accompanied farmers and enterprises to better production capacity, helping affirm coconut brands and prestige in the domestic and foreign markets, thus increasing export revenue, he stressed.

Last year, Vietnam shipped 940 million USD worth of coconut-based and coconut-related products. In the first months of 2023, export revenue experienced a sharp fall due to global headwinds, however, from the second quarter, robust signs have loomed on the horizon, with the US and the EU allowing imports of Vietnamese coconut, and China considering official import of the fruit.

Vietnam is now home to 90 coconut businesses, 42 of which produces coconut-based goods. Besides Ben Tre, which is considered the country’s coconut capital, other localities have zoned off hundreds of hectares of land for coconut farming, including Long An, Tay Ninh, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan and Binh Dinh.

A 14-member executive board of the VCA for the 2023-2028 tenure was elected at the congress, with Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh re-elected as the VCA President.

Thanh said as the VCA eyes to develop the coconut industry into a spearhead production and export sector, and capitalise on the economic value of products made from coconut, it will continue building standard coconut cultivation areas as well as working to form a coconut map, providing necessary data for investors and businesses.

Particularly, the association will support farmers in cultivation, harvest and processing to stabilise coconut prices, and help coconut firms sharpen competitive edge and develop markets./.