VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam would work towards building a trademark and also focus on trade promotion for the Vietnamese rice product exports, experts said.

According to the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA), Vietnamese export rice is expected to continue facing many challenges in the foreseeable future, including a high inventory of rice, falling rice export price and pressure from highly competitive large exporters of rice in the world, such as Thailand.

Speaking to the VnEconomy newspaper, VFA chairman Truong Thanh Phong said that in the rice trading sector, the most important issue currently was to maintain a good quality of export rice products and target the left out export markets, especially China, since it would be emerge as one of the largest export markets for Vietnamese rice in the coming years.

Phong said trade promotion for opening new markets should be undertaken along with the remaining and existing export markets.

To achieve the target, local exporters should guard their reputation while executing their export contracts, including maintaining a good quality of rice exports, and stick to precise deadlines for shipping the exports despite fluctuating prices, he said.

In order to formulate plans for exporting rice next year, the association has directed the enterprises to cooperate in the field of rice production to ensure good quality of final rice products.

The association has drawn up a proposal and sent it to the government to set up a fund to help facilitate cooperation in rice production and among the rice exporters besides helping trade promotion for rice at the governmental level.

Phan Van Chinh, head of the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the trade promotion activities at the governmental level have been boosted to aim at signing more export agreements and extending many rice export contracts.

Chinh said the department would review the mechanism of signing contracts to export rice to markets in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia to put in place appropriate plans for selling rice in these markets.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh told the Vietnam News Agency that the ministry has implemented the plan for restructuring the agricultural sector to increase its value and ensure its sustainable development, improve the quality of commercial rice products and build a trademark for Vietnamese rice.

In the coming time, the ministry would continue to invest in rice production and processing technologies, control processes in rice production and processing, and combine production with purchasing, temporary inventory, processing and consumption of rice, Anh said.

The ministry would closely cooperate with relevant offices to support the enterprises in retaining their position in the key markets and expand into new potential markets, he said.

It would also ask its relevant offices to follow the ongoing market development, issue forecasts about rice export markets, update about the technical barriers encountered in rice export markets and support the local rice exporters in cooperating with distribution systems in foreign countries to develop distribution channels for the Vietnamese rice products, he said.

Viet Nam expected to export 6.6 to 6.7 million tonnes of rice this year, down from the initial export target of 7.5 million tones, due to certain difficulties in the world market.

Source: VNS