Two countries discuss opening Korean market to lychees and passionfruit and the Vietnamese market to mandarins and kiwifruit
Improving market access for fruit was high on the agenda when agriculture ministers from Korea and Vietnam met as part of Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to Vietnam.
President Lee arrived in Vietnam on 21 April for a four-day visit, which saw the 73 business deals signed and Korean minister of agriculture, food and rural affairs Song Mi-ryung and Vietnamese minister of agriculture and environment Trinh Viet Hung also convene for bilateral discussions.
Market access for fruits was one of the key discussion points, according to a report from The Korea Times, with both ministers suggesting providing market access for new fruits.
“The Vietnamese minister suggested, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we traded fruit since our climates are so different?’ So I proposed that Korea export kiwi and satsuma oranges. My counterpart mentioned lychee and passionfruit. This kind of mutually beneficial agricultural trade, hinging on differences in climate, is underway,” Song said in a press conference following the meeting.
“I also saw to it that our Korean melon export to Vietnam extended its trade closing month from May to June to increase its overall volume. We requested that to the Vietnamese government and it took only two days for them to get back to us with an agreement,” she added.
Minister Hung emphasised the complementary potential between temperate and tropical fruits of the two countries and proposed that Korea support human resource training and send experts to Vietnam to share experience in developing temperate crops, winter vegetables, and high-quality fruits.
