Vietnam to expand rice exports to Bangladesh

The Vietnamese and Bangladeshi governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trading in Hanoi on April 18.
The Vietnamese and Bangladeshi governments signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on rice trading in Hanoi on April 18.

The MoU was inked by Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Bangladeshi Minister of Food and Disaster Management Muhammad Abdur Razzaque.

The MoU is expected to create a legal foundation for the two countries to establish stable rice trading ties and contribute to boosting their strategic partnership in food provision, said Minister Hoang.

On that basis, Vietnam will continue to affirm its position as one of the world’s leading rice exporters and raise its active role in ensuring regional and international food security, he said.

Minister Hoang took the occasion to announce that Vietnam will expand parboiled rice exports to Bangladesh to meet the country’s huge demand.

According to MoIT’s Africa-West Asia-South Asia Markets Department , Vietnam - Bangladesh trade ties are developing fruitfully, with two-way trade reaching 288 million USD in 2010, up 250 percent over 2009.

Last year, Vietnam ’s exports to Bangladesh earned more than 253 million USD, a year-on-year increase of over 325 percent. The country earned 120 million USD from shipping 350,000 tonnes of rice to the market.

Despite being the world’s fourth largest rice producer, in 2009, Bangladesh had to import 2-3 million tonnes of food to meet the demands of an increasing population and deal with impacts of natural disasters./.

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