AgroViet 2026 builds trade push on $56.3B export base

By Marcus Bennett

Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fisheries exports reached US$56.3 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up 7.8% from a year earlier, according to figures presented by Nguyen Minh Tien. The trade surplus reached US$16.9 billion. Fruit and vegetable exports reached US$7.3 billion; seafood contributed approximately US$9.1 billion.

The figures cover January through September, not a full year. The announcement gives no detailed collection method or product-level reporting windows. It also does not show how much export growth reached producers after input and processing costs. Reported exports therefore do not establish higher farmgate prices or margins.

Vietnam's agriculture is accelerating green and digital transformation while expanding international integration. The 26th International Agricultural Exhibition and a linked OCOP cuisine program will seek trade contacts, product promotion and international exposure for Vietnamese culture.

At a morning press briefing on November 2, Nguyen Minh Tien, director of the Agricultural Trade Promotion Center, framed the two exhibitions as market-building tools. “The series of events are important trade promotion activities, contributing to expanding consumer markets, strengthening supply and demand connections, and enhancing the value of Vietnamese agricultural products,” he said.

He placed the effort against a volatile global economy, stronger trade competition, technical barriers and climate change. Agriculture, he said, “continues to affirm its role as a pillar of the economy, ensuring food security and making a significant contribution to exports.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has identified consumer-market development, trade promotion, supply-demand connections and stronger consumption as key solutions. Officials based the approach on what they called positive signals from the industry. Green, digital, ecological, organic and circular agriculture, plus high technology, shape the strategy. Those priorities do not constitute harvested acreage, yield or on-farm performance results.

Two exhibitions, one market strategy

The Agricultural Trade Promotion Center will preside over and coordinate with relevant units. AgroViet 2026 will run from November 12-15 at 489 Hoang Quoc Viet, Hanoi.

The second program follows December 10-13 at Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi, inside the Vietnam International Defence Exhibition 2026. The Center will collaborate with the Central Coordination Office of the National Target Program.

AgroViet's theme, “Promoting Tradition - Building a Green Future,” marks the 81st anniversary of the agriculture and environment sector's Traditional Day, observed from November 14, 1945, through November 14, 2026. The fair plans 250 standard booths and more than 100 participating units and businesses from four countries and territories and 25 Vietnamese provinces and cities.

New content will include technology and environmental-protection equipment. A dedicated area will display science and technology products, plus digital and green start-ups. Domestic booths will follow product groups and value chains, helping exhibitors promote products, find partners and pursue sales.

An international area will hold about 50 booths devoted to agricultural machinery, equipment, supplies, post-harvest processing technology and environmental protection. Participants include companies from Japan, China and Vietnam. Organizers say the focus extends beyond product display toward innovation, quality and increased value throughout the production chain.

The organizing committee will promote the fair on Facebook, TikTok and Zalo. It also plans to survey visitors, collect and categorize their data, and connect them with participating businesses. Attendance and transaction activity remain forecasts. Organizers expect about 20,000 visitors over four days but have published no transaction value or sales target.

What does this change for growers and exporters?

The OCOP program gives processors, cooperatives and food businesses a separate route to buyers. Organizers will recreate the old town and Northern Delta cultures, central Vietnam's heritage, and the South's riverine and garden cultures. A north-to-south train anchors the design.

Across roughly 600 square meters, five localities and 50 businesses and cooperatives will showcase beverages, spices, traditional fish sauce, processed foods and regional specialties. OCOP, or One Commune One Product, goods will receive priority.

The program includes tastings, culinary experiences, demonstrations and introductions to Vietnamese beverage and spice culture. Livestreaming will support product promotion and business networking.

Placing the showcase inside the defence exhibition gives OCOP products and processed foods access to delegates, international visitors and the public. Businesses can meet distributors, food-store chains and restaurants, with the stated goal of expanding sales in Vietnam and overseas.

Product and dish narratives will also promote regional identities and Vietnamese culinary culture abroad. Organizers expect these channels to connect production with consumption and pair producers with trading partners, supporting more competitive, modern, green and responsible agriculture.

Growers gain a concentrated setting for buyer meetings, technology sourcing and regional product promotion. OCOP cooperatives gain tasting and livestream channels aimed at distributors, retailers and restaurants. The technology focus could affect processing costs, product quality and market premiums, but the announcement gives no figures for equipment prices, input costs, farmgate basis or margins.

Attendance and transaction activity are not completed sales. The announcements also provide no harvested acreage, yield or product-level performance data for green, digital, ecological, organic or circular agriculture. Buyers and policymakers will need verified orders and margin data after the events to judge whether the new connections improve returns rather than simply add foot traffic.

If the fairs convert digital reach and 20,000 expected visitors into repeat orders for OCOP goods, equipment purchases and export partnerships, the November and December events could extend the market channels behind Vietnam's reported US$56.3 billion export base. Their value will depend on completed transactions, not attendance alone.