Viet Nam aims to export 6 million tonnes of rice annually during the next four years, the Viet Nam Food Association told a meeting held in southern Can Tho City on Sept. 6.
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Workers of the Dong Thap Foods Co stack bags of rice. Viet Nam has set a target to reach annual rice exports of 6 million tonnes a year for the next four years. — VNA/VNS Photo Dinh Hue |
To achieve such a goal, high-quality rice growing areas would be established alongside efforts to diversify rice products, the association said.
Creating an internationally recognisable Vietnamese brand, enhancing the presence of Vietnamese rice in traditional export markets as well as seeking new export outlets, were highlighted as key priorities.
Issues related to closer links between farmers and traders as well as more effective export management by authorities and better measures to cope with possible anti-dumping cases were also raised.
The country exported 5.3 million tonnes of rice in the first eight months of this year, earning an export turnover of around US$2.53 billion, a year-on-year increases of 24 per cent in value and 11.4 per cent in volume.
The association estimated that this year's rice export volume would likely reach 7 million tonnes, an increase of 17.57 per cent in volume and 24.71 per cent in value over the same period last year.
During 2006-10, the country managed to generate $10.6 billion from exporting approximately 26.7 million tonnes of rice, a surge of 165 per cent in quality and 34 per cent in quantity against the 2001-05 period.
The domestic rice industry is due for a shake up this year with enterprises obliged to obtain certificates for rice export from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) from October 1 this year.
Under the new law, rice traders must have at least one warehouse with a minimum storage capacity of 5,000 tonnes of rice, a rice mill capable of processing at least 10 tonnes of rice per hour and meet additional standards mandated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
To date, 49 enterprises, controlling 70 per cent of the nation's rice export turnover, have obtained such certificates.
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