Rice packaging for export at Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Can Tho City). (Source: hanoimoi.vn)

In the first seven months of 2024, Vietnam exported 5.18 million tons of rice, earning USD3.27 billion, marking a 5.8% increase in volume and a 25.1% increase in value compared to the same period in 2023.

Enhancing quality of exported rice

In the Mekong Delta, the expansion of value chain linkages between businesses and farmers following VietGap and Global Gap standards is helping to improve the quality and value of Vietnam's rice exports. The Summer-Autumn 2024 crop marks the first time that five localities - Can Tho City, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Tra Vinh, and Dong Thap - have implemented a pilot project covering over 1,200 hectares. The project aims to fundamentally transform the region's rice production system, ensuring a supply of high-quality rice for green, low-emission exports.

In this context, local governments and the agricultural sector are particularly focused on encouraging farmers to adopt clean and safe farming practices, producing rice free from pesticide residues to meet the demands of major markets such as Europe and the United States. Can Tho City, with approximately 70,000 hectares of rice in the Summer-Autumn crop, has maintained stable quality. According to Tran Thai Nghiem, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho City, the city focuses on high-quality varieties such as OM 5451, with food safety-oriented cultivation practices widely applied, ensuring the quality of the rice.

Additionally, Vietnam's rice industry is actively researching new high-quality rice varieties. According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, Vietnam currently has many rice varieties considered among the best in the world. For example, Vietnam has developed short-duration fragrant rice varieties that can be harvested two to three times a year, offering high yields and fragrant and sticky rice. These varieties are not available in major rice-producing and exporting countries such as India and Thailand.

More importantly, these varieties help Vietnam establish a new market segment for short-duration fragrant rice with high yield and good quality. This is one of the key factors in increasing the export price of Vietnamese rice on the global market, surpassing Thailand, Pakistan and India.

"In the past five years, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with provinces, cities, farmers and businesses, has completely transformed the quality of rice. As a result, Vietnamese rice commands a high price, but countries are still willing to buy," Deputy Minister Tien shared.

Expanding consumer markets

Recently, diplomatic missions and rice export businesses have been working to enhance the brand recognition of Vietnamese rice in foreign markets. The Vietnamese Trade Office in Australia has leveraged the opportunity presented by the ST25 rice winning the title of the world's best rice to promote it, prompting many importers in Australia to express interest in importing ST25 rice. The Trade Office has organized a series of major events to introduce ST25 and other Vietnamese rice varieties in various states across Australia.

The Trade Office has also made efforts to introduce Vietnamese rice to remote areas of Australia, such as the Northern Territory, which is a six-hour flight from Sydney. Vietnamese rice, under various brand names, is now widely available in Australia.

Building on the success of ST25, the Trade Office promotes the slogan: "Vietnam, the land of the world's best rice" so that other Vietnamese rice varieties can share in this fame.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Indonesia has suggested that Vietnamese rice exporters should pay more attention to building their brands and developing strategic promotional plans for high-quality Vietnamese rice varieties through various channels and promotional methods.

Additionally, rice export businesses are actively expanding into new premium market segments such as the Middle East, Africa, South America, Japan and the Republic of Korea. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, rice exports to certain markets in the Americas recorded a sharp increase in the early months of this year, reaching over 181,000 tons, valued at nearly USD136 million, almost double the same period last year.

Although the Americas are not a primary rice export market, many Vietnamese businesses are now capable of exporting through e-commerce channels, taking advantage of tax incentives from free trade agreements such as EVFTA, CPTPP, and others. Vietnam is committed to further exploiting and expanding its markets, aiming to become a supplier of premium rice segments, focusing on exporting fragrant, high-value, specialty, branded rice to the Americas. Additionally, the development of rice-based products such as pho noodles, vermicelli and rice paper is expected to yield even better results.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade is actively implementing a range of trade promotion measures to support businesses in diversifying export markets and seeking strategic partners to continue to maintain and strengthen the position and brand of Vietnamese rice products in key export markets, particularly those with free trade agreements.

With these efforts, experts predict that Vietnam's rice exports this year could reach about 8 million tons, generating over USD5 billion - a new record for the industry.