Thailand expects fruit exports to reach 8.5 billion USD

The Commerce Ministry held a business matching event for fruit and agricultural products as well as a signing ceremony for memorandums of understanding (MoUs) between Thai exporters and foreign buyers on Wednesday.

These activities are expected to help increase Thailand's export revenue by an additional 100 million USD.

Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisunpang said 96 Thai fruit export companies participated, as well as 65 importers, buyers and distributors from 19 countries and regions including China, Europe, the US, Japan, Australia, the Middle East, South Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

The business matching activities took place both online and onsite, resulting in over 500 scheduled appointments.

"These trade negotiations could lead to order placements exceeding 43 million USD. The most sought-after products included durian, longan, mangosteen, coconut and various processed fruit items", said Mr. Napintorn.

Eight MoUs were signed between Thai exporters and trade partners from China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Indonesia, collectively expected to yield more than 57 million USD in sales of fresh fruit.

Other highlights included the launch of a character to promote the identity of Thai fruit, exhibitions showcasing various fruit and agricultural products and cooking demonstrations.

Mr Napintorn said the goal of the events was to enhance the market share of Thai fruit exports globally, improve trade competitiveness, and introduce fresh and processed fruit, as well as other agricultural products, to the international market ahead of the upcoming harvest season.

This year, Thailand expects to export over 4 million tonnes of fresh and processed fruit to international markets, with a total value projected to surpass 8.5 billion USD, marking a 2% year-on-year increase.

The Department of International Trade Promotion plans to organise more than 30 projects to promote Thai fruit products in overseas markets, including sales promotions in international malls and trade negotiations at global trade fairs.

According to the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, Thailand exported 28.8 billion USD of agricultural products in 2024, a 7.5% year-on-year increase and the fourth consecutive year of growth.

Fresh, chilled, frozen and dried fruit ranked as the top export product with a value of 6.51 billion USD, accounting for 22.6% of total agricultural export value, followed by rice at 6.44 billion USD, rubber at 4.99 billion USD, chicken at 4.31 billion USD and cassava products at 3.13 billion USD.