The golden time for Vietnam to promote its rice brand will come once the country is able to promptly expand production of ST25 rice in line with a safe process, according to rice exporters.

A large-scale rice field in the Mekong Delta (Source: www.sggp.org.vn)

Opportunities will be opened up for Vietnamese rice to further access the European market as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) became effective at the beginning of August.

The rice variety ST25 won the first prize in the 2019 World’s Best Rice Contest and is favoured by domestic consumers.

Major rice exporters from the Mekong Delta are striving to meet demands of stringent markets.

The export price of Vietnamese five-percent broken rice currently hits its peak in the past 10 years, standing at US$473-477 per tonne, announced the Vietnam Food Association on August 18.

This is also the first time that the price of Vietnamese five-percent broken rice has been higher than that of Thailand.

Vietnam exported 3.9 million tonnes of rice in the first seven months of this year, earning US$1.9 billion, according to the Department of Agro Processing and Market Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The export volume fell 1.4% but the value increased by 10.9% over the same period last year.