Overview of the meeting.

On April 3, Vice Chairman of Can Tho city People's Committee Duong Tan Hien and representatives of departments and agencies had a meeting with the working group of SunRice Group (Australia) led by Paul Serra, chief executive officer and managing director. They came to learn about rice investment opportunities in Can Tho city.

At the meeting, Hien mentioned the strength of Can Tho city in its role as the center of the Mekong Delta region in agricultural production.

According to Duong Tan Hien, the rice export rate of the Mekong Delta currently accounts for 95% of the country's output. In Can Tho city alone, there are 37 rice export enterprises. In 2023, the city's rice exports reached 976,000 tons, up 23% compared to 2022, and continued to grow in the first 3 months of 2024.

In his working session with SunRice Group’s leaders, Hien highlighted that Can Tho city, the hub of the Mekong Delta region, has a total rice cultivation of some 75,000 hectares which yields more than 1.3 million tonnes a year.

Currently, the city focuses on high-tech agriculture, and invests to improve product quality. Can Tho is an agricultural seed production center for the Mekong Delta region.

The city is also participating in the project of one million hectares of rice, specializing in high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation, associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta until 2030. The project is initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

However, Hien pointed out that ineffective rice production has made local livelihoods in the country’s rice granary challenging, elaborating that small-scale and unplanned farming has led to “bumper crops, falling prices” or vice versa.

Duong Tan Hien (right), standing vice chairman of Can Tho People's Committee, presented a gift to Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice Group.

Paul Serra, CEO of SunRice, said rice growing is still the Group's main activity.

Currently, SunRice is present in over 50 countries, and the SunRice brand ranks first in the Australian and New Zealand markets, some Middle East markets, and Pacific islands.

Paul Serra affirmed that coming to Can Tho city this time was to seek opportunities to exchange about sustainable rice growing.

He expressed his intention to cooperate in the future, as well as contribute to the implementation of the project of planting one million hectares of high-quality rice in the Mekong Delta.

The CEO and Managing Director of SunRice also expressed his desire to invest in a rice processing factory in Can Tho, aiming to bring rice products to high-end markets such as the US or Europe, contributing to improving the quality of Vietnamese rice.

At the event.

The one-million-hectare high-quality and low-carbon rice cultivation project will be deployed in the Mekong Delta localities of An Giang, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Soc Trang, Can Tho, Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Hau Giang, Ca Mau, Tien Giang and Vinh Long. It is part of an effort to restructure the region's production system and value chain with a focus on sustainable farming practices, higher product value, greater business, and production efficiency, as well as improved livelihoods of rice farmers, by Vietnam’s commitment to environmental protection, climate change response and greenhouse gas emission reduction.