Vietnamese businesses shipped more than 5.8 million tonnes of rice worth over 2.8 billion USD in the first nine months of 2011.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), the country exported 560,020 tonnes worth 291.5 million USD in September alone.

The Quan doi Nhan dan (People’s Army) newspaper on Oct. 4 quoted Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien as saying that Vietnam ’s rice export markets continue to be expanded as some Southeast Asian nations are importing large volumes of Vietnamese rice.

Indonesia plans to import around 1.5 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam , he added.

Vietnam expects to export 7 million tonnes of rice this year, the highest volume for a year so far./.