An Giang vegetable exports to Cambodia thrive

An Giang (VNA/VNS) - About 70 tonnes of vegetables are exported from An Giang province to Cambodia everyday, double the volume in previous years, according to local officials.

Nguyen Van Thao, head of An Phu district's Agriculture and Rural Development
Department, said the growth follows an agreement between the two countries to exempt
tariffs for 40 agricultural products.

The vegetables are grown to high hygiene and safety standards, Thao said.

The Mekong Delta province has become the first locality to export safe vegetable to
the neighbouring country through the Khanh Binh border crossing.

An Phu district alone has around 1,000 ha for vegetables, yielding 20,000 tonnes per
year. The productivity is yet to meet vegetable demand in the Cambodian market.

However, according to Thao, the export volume has recently dipped and prices of some
kinds of vegetables dropped by 50 percent, due to the harvest of vegetables in
Thailand .

Farming area in Thailand is not as large as in the Mekong Delta, and brisk exports
is expected to resume after the harvest season in Thailand ends, Thao said.

Despite the current lull, merchants at the Khanh Binh wholesale market said they
receive orders from Cambodia worth billions of VND a day.

An Phu district authorities said they are now expanding the area for cultivating
vegetables by 1,300 ha to meet export demand.-Enditem