Signs of Vietnamese farm export recovery have appeared as the Chinese market has begun importing products again.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has asked its Vietnam Trade Offices (VTRs) overseas to help connect Vietnamese enterprises with foreign partners to boost farm produce exports.

The next-generation FTA with the EU is believed to pave the way for Vietnam to diversify export markets and ease reliance on China.

Enterprises have begun changing their production. Three or four enterprises which specialize in exporting woodchips have bought equipment to make MDF

The Viet Nam Flour Corporation (Vikybomi) has created new food products made from wheat flour and farm produce such as dragon fruit and watermelon amid a reduction in fruit exports to China.

Imports and exports of farm produce, especially fruit, to China in the next six to eight months will not be as high as in January 2019.

Some retailers have reportedto the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) that there is no more farm produce to rescue. But farmers still complain that their farm produce remains unsalable.

Thousands of trucks are still heading for the Vietnam-China border gates, though the exports are getting stuck because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Mekong Delta farmers are facing natural calamities and saline intrusion, as well as the decline of the Chinese market amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Problems have arisen in the first days of the Year of the Rat: the sale of farm produce to China has declined because of the coronavirus.

Pepper prices this year are unlikely to recover after a strong reduction in 2019 due to abundant supply.

The US has proposed to reduce the import tax on some of its agricultural products, including chicken, some fruits, wheat, potato, pork and dairy products.

Prices of Vietnamese fruit such as dragon fruit, durian, passion fruit, and jackfruit have fallen sharply as a result of the new Chinese policy on tightening control over farm imports.

Vietnam needs to learn from experiences from other regiolnal countries and take appropriate measures to protect domestic production, experts say.

Vietnam expects to see spectacular export growth rate in 2019 despite influences from the US-China trade war, but the government has decided to maintain the same export target for 2020.

China has set comprehensive policies on importing farm produce, but Vietnam’s exports to the market remain below expectation.

Though ASEAN is an open market for Vietnam, it has not been easy to export products to the large market.

With a growth rate of 34 percent, or $10.9 billion, Vietnam has jumped from 12th to 7th among the leading suppliers to the US market.

Many Vietnamese products' availability at large supermarkets in Thailand will act as a springboard for Vietnamese goods to reach the regional market.

Price reductions, stiff competition and technical barriers are pushing the Vietnamese pepper industry against the wall.