After a year of penetrating into the Middle East market, the Ben Luc Agricultural Service Cooperative in Long An opened a representative office in the Dubai wholesale market, where most of the region’s imported farm produce is transshipped to UAE localities and neighboring countries.
Phan Thanh Liem, who is in charge of the office, said his main job is to come to Dubai’s wholesale market every morning to gauge the demand for agricultural products and spices.
The allows Liem to knowledgeably negotiate prices with partners and report to the Cooperative.
He told VOV that in addition to lemons, the cooperative has also introduced other agricultural products in high demand there. When the price of lemons is high, we’ll export more lemons.
“When the price and output are low, we often combine the export of lemons, dragon fruits, coconuts, and guavas through a trading company in Dubai. This has increased our profits and competitiveness,” said Liem.
Since the representative office was set up early this year, Ben Luc Cooperative has exported 8 to 10 containers of lemons to the market each month. Each container holds 24 tons of lemons.
According to Tran Duy Thuan, the Cooperative’s Director, despite recent market fluctuations worsened by transportation difficulties caused by fighting in the Middle East, the Cooperative continues to negotiate directly with customers in the region. As a result, output and prices are stable, said Thuan.
He added, “The Middle East is an important market for the Cooperative's lemons. It buys as much as 80% of our lemon exports. Many lemons imported into Dubai go to other countries like Oman and Qatar.”
Vietnam has more than 11,000 hectares of lemons, mostly in Long An. Ben Luc district has more than 7,000 hectares. The rest of the lemon growing area is in Thanh Hoa, Thu Thua, and Duc Hue district. A kilo of lemons now sells for 75 cents.
According to Le Van Nam, head of Ben Luc district’s Agriculture and Rural Development Agency, in the first half of the year, Ben Luc’s lemon production was an estimated 36,000 tons.
He attributed this achievement to the State’s incentives for local businesses, cooperatives, and farmers to encourage them to produce lemons organically, ensure food safety, link distributors, and help producers cope with climate change, drought, and saltwater intrusion.
“To cope with impacts of the El Nino phenomenon forecast for 2023 and 2024, we asked farmers to store water for the drought and saline season,” Nam said, adding, “We have also told farmers to put down organic fertilizer 2 to 3 months in advance and plant grass around the lemon trees to keep them moist.”
Lemon is expected to be one of four main crops creating breakthroughs for Long An’s agricultural sector next year.
To date, Long An has formed 3,000 hectares of high-tech raw material areas of which 165 hectares follow the VietGAP standards and 220 hectares follow the GlobalGAP standards.
Lemon growers have been trained to develop raw material areas to meet the requirements of both domestic and international markets like the EU, UK, Russia, New Zealand, Netherlands, and the Middle East.
Long An authorities have looked for support from overseas trade counselors and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to help agricultural trade activities run smoothly and in compliance with regulations.
Dinh Thi Phuong Khanh, Deputy Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that trade counselors have promised to help Long An businesses open representative offices abroad.
“The provincial administration will continue to be a bridge between businesses and counselors in regard to legal advice and making sure operations comply with the laws of Vietnam and host countries,” said Khanh.