The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association’s newly created club of leading coffee exporters is expected to promote the development of the country’s coffee industry.

Luong Van Tu, chairman of the association, said the club, which was launched last week, would help unite domestic coffee exporters and bring higher profits to growers, processors and exporters.

Vietnam, which has 146 coffee exporters, is the world’s second largest coffee exporter.

Tu said domestic exporters had not worked together well, and had not taken advantage of their position in the world market.

Club members would gather monthly or more frequently to exchange information related to the coffee market, including output and prices at home and abroad, said Do Ha Nam, chairman of the club. Nam said the exchange of information among club members would help them minimise business risk.

One of the club members, Nguyen Thang Long, general director of Intimex Hanoi Production and Trade Joint-Stock Company, said the club would help his company draw up new export strategies.

The club’s members include 20 major coffee exporters that have posted an export volume of at least 10,000 tonnes of coffee within three years./.