The conference on the country’s journey to becoming a sustainable multispice origin taking place in Hà Nội on Friday. — Photo bnews.vn
HANOI: Vietnam ranks first in pepper exports and second in cinnamon exports globally, especially when participating in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
The spice industry group is assessed to have an absolute comparative advantage in the global spice market.
The statement was made by Hoang Thi Lien, president of Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA), at a conference on the country’s journey to become a sustainable multispice origin.
Lien said that Vietnam currently ranked first in terms of export proportion and export output of pepper, however, there was still room for further development and exploitation of pepper plants.
The country has been integrating globally, with many FTAs signed.
“When the FTAs come into effect, the group of agricultural products including the spice plant group had an absolute comparative advantage in the global spice market as we had the advantage of geographical location, weather, climate, and soil,” said Lien.
However, despite achieving certain results and advantages, in the current world market context, the spice industry in general and pepper, in particular, were not only affected by supply and demand factors but also by many other factors such as geopolitical factors which could be the main cause of continued instability, according to Lien.
Strict requirements and regulations of the import market on non-tariff barriers continue to increase, especially issues related to pesticide residues (related to pepper) and heavy metals (related to the cinnamon tree).
The unpredictable evolution of climate change would be the main challenge for the global agricultural sector, she added.
Rising costs would also have a big impact on supply, according to the VPA president.
Lien said that the export turnover of pepper and spices reached more than US$1.4bil (RM6.2bil) last year, contributing to more than US$55bil (RM244.1bil) in export turnover of agro-forestry-fishery products for the whole year.
“However, there were still many shortcomings in the industry, such as the lack of an intermediary role between the private sector and the public sector, between the state and enterprises and the absence of the role of the VPA,” she pointed out.
In particular, VPA was also lacking in market research and connection between businesses and farmers, farmers and processors, she added.
Vietnam is one of the major spice producers and exporters in the world, of which exports account for about 11% of the global market share last year, according to the International Trade Centre.Of which, the United States, the European Umiom, China, India and Middle East are the leading import markets of some Vietnamese spices such as pepper, cinnamon and star anise. — Viet Nam News/ANN
