Workers load bags of rice in Song Hau Food Company (under the Vietnam Southern Food Corporation). (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - While 2020 has been a successful year for Vietnameserice exports, more must be done to accelerate the development of the nationalrice brand, experts have said.
Riceexport prices in Vietnam jumped to their highest point since December 2011 lastweek, as a shortage of containers sent freight rates soaring and pushed Thaiprices to a near four-month peak.
Pricesfor Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice hit 500 USD per tonne, from the previousweek’s 470-490 USD, Reuters reported.
Ashortage of containers has made it difficult for traders to ship rice tocustomers, a trader based in the Mekong province of An Giang said.
Forinstance, freight rates for a 20-feet container to Africa have risen to 5,000 USDfrom 1,500 USD a couple of months ago, the trader added.
Meanwhile,at the World Rice Trade Conference 2020 held by TheRice Trader (TRT) in earlier December, Vietnamese rice ST25 was namedthe second-best rice in the world. Last year, it was given first prize inManila, the Philippines.
TheTRT World Rice Conference is the largest annual gathering of commercial andprofessional rice industry participants in the world.
Thisis good news for Vietnamese rice and the rice exports are forecast to growstrongly in the future.
Theprize is also an opportunity to create a brand for Vietnamese rice, accordingto the agricultural experts, because after more than 30 years of exporting, Vietnam'srice industry only has a national brand logo.
Thailandand Cambodia have branded their rice to improve promotion activities on theglobal market and create confidence in quality. Therefore, their riceproducts have higher selling prices, Pham Thai Binh, General Director of CongTrung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, told Nhip cau dau tu (Investment Bridge)newspaper. Meanwhile, local traders could not gain high prices for high-qualityrice without a national brand, he said.
Vietnamis among the world's top rice exporters with the value the second highestin the world. Therefore, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently approved aproject to develop Vietnam's rice brand. Specifically, by 2030, Vietnam ishoped to have stable, efficient and sustainable regions producing rice forexport to build the world's leading brand in food quality and safety forVietnamese rice.
Theproject calls for Vietnam to restructure the rice production industry withinvestment in some varieties to increase the value of rice seeds. However, inthe Mekong Delta, the largest rice production region in the country, the creationof a large field model has not achieved the expected efficiency.
Unprofessionalproduction makes it difficult to build a brand, said Lam Dinh Quoc, formerdirector of the Soc Trang Food Company.
Therefore,Loc Troi Group is building an ecosystem in rice production where the groupand farmers produce rice under orders from large companies. Recently, the grouphas exported more than 126 tonnes of fragrant rice to the EU under theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). This is the first shipment to enjoythe zero tax rate since the agreement came into effect.
“TheEU is a huge rice importer from 2.3-2.5 million tonnes per year. So, with theEVFTA and control in rice quality, Vietnam’s rice exports to this market will increasein the future," said Le Quoc Doanh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development./.
VNA
