HANOI, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has earned nearly 1.7 billion U.S. dollars from exporting fruits and vegetables in the first five months of this year, posting a year-on-year rise of 19.6 percent, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Vietnam spent 577 million U.S. dollars importing fruits and vegetables, mainly from Thailand and China, increasing 15.4 percent against the same period last year.

To date, Vietnamese fruits and veggies have been exported to 60 countries and regions, including Thailand and Indonesia which are considered agriculture powerhouses.

According to Vietnamese agriculture and trade experts, the high growth in fruit and veggie export turnovers in the first five months of this year was mainly attributed to the wider application of clean production processes.

The experts suggested the Ministry of Industry and Trade accelerate negotiations with some foreign countries to intensify export of star-apple and mango to the U.S. market, red dragon fruit to Japan, litchi, longan and rambutan to Australia, and other fruits and vegetables to new markets.

Vietnam is boosting export of both fresh and processed fruits and vegetables to traditional and new markets, the agriculture ministry said, noting that local litchi and longan fruits have recently penetrated into big markets which have strict requirements for food safety.