As an agricultural country with a variety of products topping the world’s import list, every year Vietnam still has to spend a large amount of foreign currency to import farm products, including vegetables, fruits, salt and milk. This paradoxical fact has existed for many years.

A variety of imported agricultural products are sold in markets and supermarkets in Vietnam. Most of them come from the US, China, Australia, Thailand and Japan. While Vietnamese agricultural products have difficulty in finding consumer markets, similar imported products continue to enter the daily meal of Vietnamese families.

In 2009, the agricultural sector achieved high revenues from exporting farm produce, earning US$15.4 billion, above the yearly set target of US$12 billion despite the global economic downturn. Vietnam was among the world’s largest exporters of rice, coffee, peppers and cashew nuts. However, last year the country also spent almost US$150 million importing vegetables and fruits from China and US$45 million purchasing farm products from Thailand. Furthermore, Vietnamese farmers have grown a lot of maize and cassava, but they still have to import fodder for cattle and fish from 25 countries around the world.

This situation has increased the concerns of millions of farmers who enjoy bumper crops but worry about low prices. Large areas planted with tomatoes, cucumbers and pineapples do not have a consumer market. Only some kinds of Vietnamese agricultural products bearing foreign trademarks are available in markets and supermarkets nationwide. This is due to weaknesses in the management of local markets, and cannot be attributed to any negative impact of the integration process.

It is a fact that Vietnam’s joining the level playing-field faces both opportunities and challenges. High quality imported products with reasonable prices will win consumer’s trust. However, it is something of a paradox that some Vietnamese farm products are defeated on their own turf despite good quality and great potential.

Abundant domestic products have been produced, but quality control is weak and the sales and marketing network is inefficient, leaving room for imported farm products to corner the market.

Every year, billions of Vietnamese dong are spent on promotion activities overseas while the domestic market, which is of great potential, has not been paid due attention. The “Vietnamese use Vietnamese products” campaign should find its way into every nook and cranny of localities.

With a productive climate and soil as well as industrious and creative farmer, many regions of the country produce highly competitive farm products. The “each village, a product “ movement launched by Japanese farmers has created famous products such as dried field mushrooms, kabosu lemons and saba fish, doubling farmer’s income. Successful farm production in Japan demonstrates that it is not difficult to produce products but the key thing is to sell them.

Only when farmers realise the problem and the relevant ministries get involved will Vietnamese farm products gradually win consumers’ trust and hold sway over the domestic market. Accordingly, Vietnam needs to restructure production, improve the quality of products to raise their competitiveness, invest more in the sales and marketing network and combine production with processing and distribution. Implementing the “rural trade development” project recently approved by the Prime Minister will help to make a breakthrough in finding outlets for Vietnamese farm products.

In addition, Vietnam should build and install technical barriers, which are allowed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on imported products to prevent poor quality products from entering the country and help protect the interests of domestic producers.