Rice is packaged for export at a factory in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang (Photo: VNA) Vietnam exported 6.15 million tonnes of riceworth 3.07 billion USD in 2020, down 3.5 percent in volume but up 9.3 percentin value year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment.
Citing reasons for optimism about exports, TrungAn’s General Director Pham Thai Binh said the country’s policy of intensive andextensive integration into the world has created a number of competitive edgesfor Vietnam’s economy via multilateral and bilateral free trade agreements.
Under the integration policy, he noted, the ricesector has gradually restructured itself towards higher quality, rather thanprimarily focusing on output, and is growing more diverse varieties, withhigh-grade grains meeting demand among both domestic and foreign consumers.
Vietnam is among the world’s leading ricesuppliers. The COVID-19 pandemic, meanwhile, has pushed many countries towards afood crisis as a result of disrupted supply chains, which may not recover in ashort period of time.
Demand for Vietnamese rice from many new marketshas therefore surged since mid-2020 and is likely to increase even more thisyear, Binh went on.
Transportation problems, however, have hampered riceexports in recent times, he said, pointing out that the country is facing a seriousshortage of empty containers and cargo ships for exports.
One urgent solution is to ensureself-sufficiency in containers and ships, he suggested, and to do that theGovernment needs to order the maritime sector and logistics firms to takedrastic action./.
VNA
