FTAs elevate Vietnamese agricultural products
Sharing at the Press Conference on production and business results in September and the first 9 months of 2025 organized by Ministry of Agriculture and Environment on morning of October 6, Deputy Director of Department of International Cooperation Vu Duc Dam Quang informed that over the past 5 years, despite challenges from pandemic, geopolitical fluctuations and supply chain disruptions, Vietnamese agricultural products have still affirmed their position on the world map.
From 2020 to now, export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products has continuously increased, putting Vietnam in the group of 15 leading agricultural, forestry and fishery exporting countries, with markets covering more than 200 countries and territories. In the first 9 months of 2025, total export turnover reached 52.31 billion USD, up 14%. Trade surplus is estimated at 15.93 billion USD, up 17.6% over the same period last year. Vietnam ranks first in the world in many agricultural, forestry and fishery products such as pepper, cashew, coffee, rice, etc.
This achievement has important contributions from 17 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), helping Vietnamese agricultural products access demanding markets such as the EU, the United States and Japan. Not only increasing export volume, Vietnam also raises standards on quality, food safety and sustainability. In coming time, negotiating 6 new FTAs will open up opportunities from potential markets in the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Along with opening the market, Vietnam has actively removed barriers and met new requirements from partners, such as the EU's anti-deforestation regulations (EUDR) or the US's 301 timber and MMPA seafood control measures. This is both a challenge and an opportunity to develop transparent, responsible and sustainable agriculture.
Vietnam has also become an attractive destination for FDI in agriculture, with more than 500 direct projects, total capital of nearly 4 billion USD, and if including processing and related service projects, total capital exceeds 20 billion USD. Many multinational corporations bring advanced technology, modern management and global supply chain connections, creating a foundation for agricultural breakthroughs.
On this basis, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment and its partners have built public-private partnership (PPP) groups in key industries such as coffee, rice, pepper and seafood. This is a pioneering model, connecting multinational enterprises, domestic enterprises, farmers and associations and industries to create a transparent, sustainable value chain that meets international standards. PPP groups help farmers access technology, capital and markets, while addressing major challenges such as traceability, emission reduction, EUDR compliance and market expansion.
“The coffee industry’s practice shows that through PPP, productivity increases by 15-20%, costs decrease by 10-15% and a responsible supply chain is formed from production to consumption”, said Mr. Vu Duc Dam Quang.
EPR and carbon credits, “green passports” for Vietnamese agricultural products
Besides PPP, initiatives such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) are changing way of production and business, linking corporate responsibility to entire product life cycle. This is a “green passport” that helps Vietnamese agricultural products conquer demanding markets such as the EU and the United States. At the same time, carbon credit exchange projects in agriculture create a new green economic market, supporting the Net Zero 2050 target while generating reinvestment revenue for farmers and local communities.
These initiatives are converging to turn Vietnamese agriculture into a sector that both produces food and provides “environmental services”, enhancing value and brand of Vietnamese agricultural products in international market. In coming period, Vietnam will continue to choose FDI to serve green transformation, prioritizing projects that combine technology, link with farmers and local businesses and at the same time perfect the carbon credit mechanism, promote sustainable agricultural production and increase export value.
Also according to Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation Vu Duc Dam Quang, over the past years, Vietnamese agriculture has received support from international partners through ODA projects. These capital, technology and knowledge flows not only contribute to construction of irrigation works, mangrove restoration and improved management systems, but also create sustainable livelihoods for millions of farmers.
Currently, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is implementing 6 ODA projects worth 651 million USD, focusing on areas such as efficient water use, flood management, mangrove restoration, forestry modernization and coastal ecosystem conservation. In addition, 9 new projects with a total capital of 1.15 billion USD and 4 projects with a scale of 544 million USD are being prepared, notably the Project to support technical facilities to serve the Project of 1 million hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice - an important milestone towards Net Zero 2050.
Notably, more than 160 non-refundable aid projects with a total capital of 356 million USD have spread from agriculture, forestry, irrigation, fisheries to climate change, environment, seas and islands. These projects directly support millions of farmers, coastal communities and improve capacity for natural resource management and biodiversity conservation.
These results have helped Vietnamese agriculture protect water resources, upgrade irrigation infrastructure, restore mangrove forests and increase resilience to natural disasters and climate change. At the same time, ODA contributes to promoting agricultural restructuring towards smart, circular and low-emission, enhancing state governance capacity and improving farmers' livelihoods, incomes and adaptive capacity.
Mr. Vu Duc Dam Quang said that in coming period, the Ministry will continue to connect with international organizations, development banks and climate funds to mobilize resources for major programs: restructuring crops and livestock, managing land and water resources, developing circular economy and green livelihoods for rural areas.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn