Industry leaders believe export value has the potential to triple in the coming years
Systematic investment and the expansion of production area have the potential to supercharge Vietnam’s banana exports beyond US$1bn.
According to a report from Saigon Giai Phong, at a forum on Fusarium wilt organised by Vietnam’s Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection on 13 December in Ho Chi Minh City, participants heard about the growth opportunities for the country’s banana industry.
Le Quoc Doanh, former deputy minister of agriculture and rural development and current chairman of the Vietnam Gardening Association, shared that Vietnam’s banana production sat around 2.8mn tonnes per year, with yields and production area growing.
In 2024, Vietnam exported approximately US$378mn in bananas; however, Doanh said the figure remains below the sector’s potential.
Nguyen Quoc Manh, deputy director of the department of crop production and plant protection under the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said Vietnam’s banana cultivation area now exceeds 163,000ha and that some businesses have noted that more investment and production could move exports toward the US$1bn mark.
Manh said there were a number of challenges that industry needed to address if it was to achieve this level of growth. He noted the market information available to industry was limited and pricing unpredictable, particularly when quality is impacted. Technical barriers and the threat of disease were also highlighted as key hurdles.
