Vietnam targets to export 6 million tonnes of rice each year for the 2012-2015 period, said the Vietnam Food Association.

To meet the target, the country will implement five measures, including improvement of rice quality, diversification of rice products, enhancement of Vietnamese rice’s competitiveness, combination of production and consumption and rice price stability for farmers, and efficient management of rice exports and anti-dumping.

The target and measures to ensure efficiency of rice exports were made at the 7 th congress of the Vietnam Food Association which opened in the Mekong delta city of Can Tho on Sept. 6.

Over the past eight months, Vietnam exported 5.3 million tonnes of rice worth 2.5 billion USD, an increase of 11.4 percent and 23.8 percent in terms of volume and value against the same period last year.

The country expects to export 7 million tonnes of rice for the whole year.

Earlier, in the 2006-2010 period, Vietnam shipped a total 26.7 million tonnes of rice, up 33.7 percent and 165. 3 percent in terms of volume and value over the 2001-2005 period.

From 1989, the country earned 21.46 billion USD from export of 76.54 million tonnes of rice with main markets being Asia, Africa and America. /.