A farmer in the northern province of Hai Duong arranges lychees into boxes for enterprises to collect for processing. Vietnamese lychees are now being exported to Australia and will be further shipped to France this year. — VNA/VNS Photo Manh Minh

Following the lychee imports, Thanh Binh Jeune Company will co-ordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in France to import Hung Yen longans.

The company director said there was potential for exporting Vietnamese fruits to France if they were treated and could be preserved for a longer time.

Duong said the country's lychees, longans and Phu Quoc fish sauce should have trademarks to help the customers know their origin, building prestige and increasing the competitiveness of the Vietnamese products in the world market.

Vietnamese lychees are now being exported to Australia, a development hailed by that country's ambassador to Viet Nam, Hugh Borrowman.

Australian market

He said: "I am very pleased that the Australian market is now open for Vietnamese lychees. The first consignments arrived in Melbourne on Friday and will soon be in Australian shopping baskets."

"It is terrific that Australian consumers will have the opportunity to try these delicious fruit during the 2015 season, I am sure that they will enjoy this high-quality and flavoursome product - just like Vietnamese consumers enjoy eating Australian fruits such as table grapes, citrus and cherries."

The envoy added that "the finalisation of the import conditions is the culmination of a great deal of work by the Vietnamese Plant Protection Department, Vietnamese industry and the Australian Department of Agriculture".

Vietnamese lychees are harvested during the off-season for their Australian lychees. — VNS

Source: vietnamnews.vn