Vietnam remains world's top cashew exporter

HO CHI MINH CITY, Dec 6 (Vietnam News Agency/ANN): In the past 30 years since the establishment of the Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), cashew exports have reached more than US$31 billion, according to insiders.

Pham Van Cong, chairman of Vinacas, said the establishment of Vinacas was a turning point for the industry. Starting as a country that exported raw cashew in small quantities, Vietnam has been the leading exporter of the product worldwide for over 15 years.

The cashew industry exports its products to more than 90 countries and territories, accounting for around 80 percent of exports of the nut globally.

In 1990, the association had 12 founding members, but the number is now more than 500, representing the fields of planting, manufacturing, processing, trading, and import-export.

Despite the strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cashew industry in Vietnam has maintained its production and export at a high growth rate compared to the same period in 2019.

According to the Agriculture Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 10 months of the year, raw cashew exports reached 415,000 tonnes, and the value of turnover was US$2.61 billion.

The US, the Netherlands and China remain Vietnam's top three largest cashew importers, accounting for 33.5 per cent, 13 per cent and 12.7 per cent of the total cashew export value, respectively.

According to Cong, the Vietnamese cashew industry is facing both new opportunities and challenges. Trade integration with the rest of the world offers great opportunities for the industry to expand its markets, and develop production and business.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Vietnam is expected to mount a "strong recovery in 2021”, with growth projected to strengthen to 6.5 per cent as domestic and foreign economic activity established, the UK-based news outlet proactiveinvestors.co.uk (Proactive) has cited a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In a story published recently, the newswire highlighted Vietnam as one of the most successful countries in minimising the impact of the coronavirus on its economy, with the IMF saying the South-East Asian nation’s containment of the virus should allow its economy to stage a fast rebound in the post-pandemic world.

The IMF said Vietnam’s growth this year is expected to be 2.4 per cent, among the highest in the world, thanks to the country’s "decisive steps to contain the health and economic fallout from Covid-19”, Proactive reported.

The IMF’s view has been echoed by investment firm Vietnam Holding Limited which has said Vietnam’s resiliency during the pandemic had "helped raise its profile as a major trade partner” and expected trade relations with the country and other nations to "gain further momentum”. - Bernama