Tokyo (VNA) – Vietnam shouldmaintain high quality of its farm produce, especially longan, to clinch itsposition in the Japanese market, according to Vietnamese Trade Councillor inJapan Ta Duc Minh.

Last week, the first batch of fresh longan arrivedin Japan, becoming the fourth kind of fruit to be sold in the choosy Japanesemarket after dragon fruit, mango and litchi.

According to Minh, Vietnam and Japan started negotiations on Japan’s opening ofmarket for Vietnamese fresh longan six years ago and reached an agreement onNovember 23, 2022.

On January 3, Hoang Phat Co., Ltd. shipped 10tonnes of fresh longan to Japan. After that, each month, the firm will exportabout 70-100 tonnes of the product to the market.

Minh said that the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan will coordinate with exportersand Vietnamese authorities to organise promotion programmes to popularise this specialty fruit to Japanese consumers as well as the Vietnamesecommunity in Japan.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese freshlongan will also affirm its position in Japan like fresh litchi.

The official noted that currently, Vietnamese dragon fruits are holding 80% of the marketshare in Japan, while that of mango is 6.6% and fresh banana 0.8%.  Meanwhile, some kinds of fruit that have justbeen sold in Japan for 2-3 years like durian, litchi and frozen longan, havealso seen good sales.

Longan is cultivated in some southern localities of Japan, but the productionis modest, he noted, stressing that the opening of markets for Vietnamese freshlongan is a great chance for Vietnamese farmers, and at the same time manifeststhe high quality of the products, enabling it to enter other markets in theworld.

However, Minh warned exporters to ensurehigh and stable quality of longan exported to the Japanese market to win strongconfidence of local consumers.

He highlighted the strict technical standards and plant quarantine process forVietnamese fresh longan in Japan, advising local farmers to follow the qualitymanagement procedures in all production stages to ensure highest quality oftheir products.

He also recommended that exporters upgrade their preservation equipment andtechnology to make sure that longan is kept fresh with preserved taste for alonger time./.