Domestic agricultural producers must boost exports to help reduce the country's trade deficit, said economist Pham Do Chi.
Chi said if the sector does not increase production and foreignsales, the country's trade deficit will reach 15 billion USD this year.
According to the General Statistics Office, in the first four months ofthis year, the country's trade deficit reached about 5 billion USD, upnearly 6 percent against the same period last year. There were 4 billionUSD worth of imports from mainland China alone.
Chisaid the quality of Vietnam 's rice this year is better than thatexported by Thailand to Hong Kong . Furthermore, Vietnamese rice ischeaper, he said.
Chi added that Vietnamese rice has takenan increasing slice of the Hong Kong market and is making in-roads intothe coastal areas of mainland China where incomes are relativelyhigh. He suggested Vietnamese producers focus on exporting white rice tothis market. He said lower quality rice should be exported to thePhilippines , India and Africa .
According to theAgromonitor agency, in March this year, Vietnam exported 60,000 tonnesof rice to China . It said Chinese firms are looking to purchasemore competitively priced rice from Vietnam . However, he saidVietnamese firms have encountered payment problems with exports toChina .
Chi said exports should be supported by banks. Inaddition, more research on demand in China should be conducted, headded.
However, Dr Tran Du Lich from the National AdvisoryCouncil for Monetary and Financial Policies said that though exportshave increased they should be considered in terms of output requirementsand the selling price.
Vietnam 's farm produce ismostly exported to its neighbours. About 80 percent of Vietnamese dragonfruits is exported to China alone. However, he said it is importantto diversify exports to ensure price stability.
Japanand the Republic of Korea are also major importers of Vietnameseagricultural products. Pham Hai Long, general director of Agrex Sai GonFoodstuffs Joint Stock Company, said the three main reasons for thepopularity of Vietnamese agricultural exports are taste, cleanliness andattractiveness. Meanwhile, seafood enterprises have been now checkingradioactivity levels in raw materials for processing.
Longsaid orders at his company in the first two months of this year hadincreased by 30-40 percent. Helping to boost exports is the country'sfavourable climate, he added.
Long said upheaval in theglobal economy and natural disasters has helped to boost exports toneighbouring markets such as Indonesia , Malaysia and thePhilippines .
The Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that in March, 45,000 tonnes of rice were exported to the Philippines .
In the first quarter of this year, rice exports increased by 500,000tonnes compared with the first three months of last year./.