AsemconnectVietnam - Agricultural exports are shifting strongly from "quantity" to "quality" as a foundation for competitiveness in the context of 2026.

Despite positive growth, the industry faces pressure from green standards, traceability requirements, and stringent market demands. This is an inevitable shift to enhance added value, branding, and sustainable competitiveness.
Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fisheries exports in the first months of 2026 continued to record positive growth, but simultaneously faced increasing pressure from green standards, traceability requirements, and fierce competition in the international market. These factors are forcing the agricultural sector to accelerate the transformation of its growth model, from relying on volume to relying on quality, branding, and added value.
In the first four months of 2026, the export value of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products reached US$23.04 billion, an increase of 5.4% compared to the same period in 2025. Many key product groups continued to maintain growth momentum, with fruits and vegetables reaching approximately US$2.05 billion, an increase of 21.6%; and aquatic products reaching US$3.54 billion, an increase of 10.4%. Although imports across the sector increased by 12% to US$17.65 billion, the trade balance maintained a surplus, reflecting the sector's adaptability to global economic fluctuations.
Regarding markets, Asia continued to be the largest export region for Vietnamese agricultural products, accounting for 44.1% of the total export value. China, the United States, and Japan remained the three key markets. Notably, exports to China increased sharply by 28.8% thanks to recovering demand for product groups such as fruits and vegetables, cassava, and aquatic products. Conversely, exports to the United States decreased by 4.8%, reflecting the trend of tightening consumer spending and increasing trade barriers in developed economies.
In terms of product structure, fruits and vegetables continued to be a bright spot with strong growth thanks to the breakthrough of durian. Pepper recorded increases in both volume and value due to high world prices. However, some key commodities such as wood, rice, cashew nuts, and tea showed signs of stagnation or decline. Notably, many sectors, while increasing production, did not see a corresponding increase in added value, reflecting the continued prevalence of reliance on raw material exports.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, current export growth still harbors elements of unsustainability due to its dependence on seasonality and market fluctuations. Meanwhile, the capacity for deep processing, brand building, and value chain development in many sectors remains limited, resulting in unstable competitiveness.
The situation is more challenging as the global trend of "greening" trade is putting significant pressure on Vietnamese agricultural products. New regulations from the EU, the US, and Japan regarding carbon emissions, deforestation prevention, food safety, and traceability are becoming increasingly stringent. This requires businesses to make comprehensive changes from production to supply chain management, while domestic production remains fragmented, weakly linked, and lacking standardized practices.
Given this reality, to achieve the export target of over $74 billion by 2026, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has clearly defined its export development direction, shifting strongly from "quantity" to "quality," using quality, branding, green standards, and added value as the foundation for competitiveness. The key sectors such as wood, seafood, fruits and vegetables, coffee, and cashew nuts are all oriented towards in-depth growth, focusing on processing and enhancing product value.
Simultaneously, the agricultural sector will accelerate production restructuring, develop standardized raw material areas, strengthen value chain linkages, and expand markets to potential regions such as the Middle East, Africa, and Halal markets. Solutions regarding logistics, credit, trade promotion, and green transformation will also be implemented synchronously to support businesses.
In the context of rapidly changing global trade and increasingly stringent standards, agricultural export growth is no longer a race for quantity. The strong shift from "quantity" to "quality" is becoming an essential requirement and a crucial foundation for enhancing the competitiveness and sustainable development of Vietnamese agricultural products in the new era.
CK
Source: VITIC/tapchitaichinh.vn