Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan and the EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski agreed to promote the opening of markets for Vietnam-EU bilateral agricultural products.

During their working session on September 20-21 in Belgium, the two sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in agriculture, forestry and fisheries as well as food security.

Vietnam’s exports of agricultural products to the EU had increased strongly in recent times, from $3.167 billion in 2019 to $4.934 billion in 2022, figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) show.

However, value reached just $2.1 billion in the first half of 2023, down 16.6 per cent year-on-year.

The EU is Vietnam’s third-largest market for agricultural products, accounting for 15 per cent of agricultural product value in 2022. However, these exports accounted for only 4 per cent of the bloc’s total import of agricultural products.

The figures show that exports of Vietnamese agricultural products to the EU remain modest and fail to match Vietnam’s export potential and the EU’s import demand, according to MARD.

Mr. Wojciechowski noted that agricultural cooperation between Vietnam and the EU has developed well and substantial potential remains to further promote bilateral trade.