The list includes rice, coffee, rubber, cashew nuts, pepper, tea, vegetables and fruit, cassava and cassava products, pork, meat and eggs, tra fish, shrimp, wood and wood products.
MARD said that many countries had identified their key agricultural products in order to encourage their development, but so far there hadn’t been a unified set of indicators to identify key agricultural products among countries.
Each country will select their key agricultural products based on their own natural and socio-economic conditions as well as their political and social security objectives.
According to MARD, there are four main groups of criteria that most countries use to identify their key agricultural products, including economic criteria, social criteria, environmental criteria, and the criteria of products prioritised for development.
The ministry said the promulgation of the list aimed to encourage investment into agriculture to improve product quality and competitiveness.
Earlier, the ministry drafted a decree proposing 15 key agricultural products including the 13 mentioned above, as well as beef and ginseng.
Vietnam now ranks second in Southeast Asia in exporting agricultural products.
Last year, the country’s export revenues of agricultural products hit a record high of 40.02 billion USD – the highest growth rate over the past seven years.
Specifically, the gross domestic product (GDP) of agriculture, forestry and fishery expanded by 3.76 percent while the production value increased by 3.86 percent. Of which, the export value of the key agricultural products had been on the rise, contributing to the high growth rate.
The 10 commodity groups with export turnover of over 1 billion USD continued to be maintained, of which five items posted a revenue of more than 3 billion USD, including wood and wood products (8.86 billion USD), shrimp (3.59 billion USD), fruit and vegetable (3.81 billion USD), coffee (3.46 billion USD) and cashew nuts (3.43 billion USD).
The sector’s trade surplus increased from 7 billion USD in 2015 to 8.5 billion USD in 2017 and 8.72 billion USD in 2018, contributing sharply to balancing the country’s foreign currency reserves.
The global agricultural market in 2018 recorded a sharp decline in prices of industrial crops in the context of fierce competition among exporting countries, causing a rapid increase in supply while world demand decreased or increased slowly. Specifically, commodities seeing declines included coffee, rubber, pepper and cashew nuts. However, Vietnam still maintained a high export value thank to increasing export volume despite falling prices.
The export value of key agricultural products had been increased including rice, vegetables, tra fish, wood and forest products.
According to minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, the achievements were partly due to restructuring the sector, organising production by chain and bringing high technologies into production, especially key agricultural products.
The whole sector would strive to achieve a GDP growth rate of over 3 percent, an increase of over 3.11 percent in the production value and an export turnover of about 42-43 billion USD, he said.
To reach the targets, the ministry would continue to restructure the sector and boost production and processing, develop the consumption market for farm produce, and promote sustainable growth.
It would also develop the consumption market in the country as well as the export markets, actively implement trade promotion and effectively tap into the opportunities of free trade agreements (FTAs).
VNS/VNA
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) With less than two weeks to go, the Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS 2026) will officially take place in Can Tho. Under the theme “Seafood Market Outlook 2027–2029 – Opportunities and Potential for Double-Digit Export Growth,” the Summit is organized by VASEP at a time when seafood businesses are facing rapid market shifts, changing buyer demand, trade policy changes and growing competitive pressure all at once.
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) On October 28, 2026, the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo opened in Qingdao, China. The expo takes place over three days from October 28 to 30, 2026. This is a prestigious specialized seafood exhibition organized annually by Sea Fare Exposition Inc.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first nine months of 2026, Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the CPTPP bloc reached $7 million, marking a 51% year-on-year increase. The bloc rstands as the fourth-largest market for Vietnamese tilapia, trailing Brazil, the US, and Saudi Arabia.
(vasep.com.vn) VASEP has officially announced the program for Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026 (VSS 2026), featuring five in-depth sessions covering industry outlooks, trade barriers, buyer demand, the domestic market, and solutions to improve productivity and reduce costs across the seafood value chain.
(vasep.com.vn) Vietnam’s shrimp exports reached US$3.7 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 11% year on year. Although growth has been supported by China and several markets within the CPTPP, momentum is slowing as exports to the United States and the European Union decline. Tariff pressures, international competition, and raw material challenges are creating significant hurdles for exporters in the final months of the year.
(vasep.com.vn) Markets are changing faster, buyer requirements are becoming more demanding, and trade barriers are growing increasingly complex. In this environment, seafood businesses need more than an understanding of current market conditions. They need a longer-term perspective to answer a critical question: Where will growth opportunities come from in 2027–2029, and what should businesses do now to prepare? This is one of the key reasons why VASEP is organizing Vietnam Seafood Summit 2026.
(vasep.com.vn) In the first eight months of 2026, Vietnam’s pangasius exports to the Middle East reached US$113 million, up 7% year on year from the same period in 2025. Growth has become more pronounced in recent months. In August alone, exports to the region totaled US$20 million, an increase of 24%. This indicates that demand for Vietnamese pangasius in the Middle East is gradually recovering after a slowdown in March, although the pace of recovery varies across markets.
(vasep.com.vn) China’s shrimp imports continued to grow strongly in 2026, while Vietnam’s shrimp exports to the market also recorded notable growth. However, behind these positive figures lie two distinct trends: Chinese consumption is growing more slowly than imports, and lobster accounts for a substantial share of Vietnam’s shrimp exports to China, making its product mix significantly different from those of Ecuador and India. Exporters therefore need to assess each segment carefully to understand the opportunities and risks.
(vasep.com.vn) Changing markets, shifting buyer demand, and increasingly complex trade barriers are raising a key question for Vietnam’s seafood industry: Where will the new growth opportunities lie in 2027–2029?
(seafood.vasep.com.vn) As of the end of August 2026, Vietnam’s tilapia exports to the United States reached $21 million, representing a steep 48% year-over-year decline and accounting for 23% of the country's total tilapia export turnover. Frozen fillets accounted for 78% with the remainder consisting of whole frozen tilapia and frozen cuts.
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