Vietnam039s 1B Durian Dilemma

Washington – As Vietnamese durian farmers celebrate the opening of trade with China, experts are cautioning against becoming reliant on a market that can disappear if consumer tastes change or long-running friction between Beijing and Hanoi erupts again over competing claims to the South China Sea. “The Chinese market is so huge. When they are into a certain fruit, we’re actually struggling to grow enough to supply to them,” said Vo Tan Loi, director of Phuong Ngoc-Cai Be Company, a veteran fruit exporter in the Mekong Delta’s Tien Giang Province. The region is known for the fruit, which looks like…