Accordingto the Steering Committee for the Central Highlands Region, the localities collectedmore than 200,000 tonnes of rubber latex in 2016 with Gia Lai and Kon Tumrecording the highest amount.
Since2016, the provinces have banned the transformation of natural forests into plantationsof industrial trees in general as well as rubber in particular.
Statisticsshow that the region now houses nearly 251,350 ha of rubber trees.
Upto 220 projects turning exhausted forests or forestry land into rubber farmshave been implemented in the region. However, such projects have failed to yieldgood results.
Vietnamis among the three largest rubber exporters in the world, after Thailand andIndonesia.
TheGeneral Department of Vietnam Customs reported that since the beginning of thisyear to the end of April, rubber exports reached 301,500 tonnes in volume, adrop of 2.1 percent against the same period last year. However, its turnoverhit 607.9 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 65.4 percent.
Chinais the leading importer of Vietnamese rubber, accounting for 63.2 percent with190,000 tonnes valued at 383.7 million USD, a 12.08 percent rise in volume andnearly 90 percent in value over the same period last year.-VNA