Vietnam
finds it crucial to build national rice brand
For many
years, Vietnam has proven to be as one of the world’s leading rice exporters
but profits remain low because product branding has not been developed and
quality has been unreliable.
This issue
topped the agenda of a recent conference held by the Ministry of Industry and
Trade to find a way to improve rice exports this year.
Last year
Vietnam exported 6.6 million tons of rice worth more than US$2.8 billion in
revenue, up 4% in quantity but down 4.5% in export value.
Vietnam’s
rice exports in 2016 are forecast to decline due to El Nino causing prolonged
drought and saltwater intrusion. The lack of water for irrigation has
increased epidemic diseases and reduced the quality of Vietnamese rice and
its competitiveness against rice from other countries in the region.
Realizing
the risk of strong dependence on certain markets, local rice exporters have
tried to expand to new markets in Europe, the US, Japan, and the Republic of
Korea. But these are demanding markets and only 27% of Vietnam’s exported rice
is high quality.
Tran Tuan
Anh, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, underscored quality, branding,
and trade promotion as keys to increasing the value of Vietnamese rice.
“Vietnamese
exporters need more help from the State, especially the Food Association in
developing markets. This is a requirement set by the Ministry of Industry and
Trade in renovating ways to promote trade for farm produce like rice to match
each market,” he said.
To date
Vietnamese rice exporters have signed contracts to export more than 1 million
tons. Although it is a positive signal, the current situation still forces
Vietnamese rice trading companies to keep China as its major export
market.
Meanwhile,
in order to boost exports to high-end markets Vietnam should actively invest
in improving rice varieties, developing more large-scale fields, building
trademarks, and expanding trade promotion programs.
Huynh The
Nang, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said, “We’ve defined
the development of value chains in line with the improvement rice quality and
brand building. A specific plan will be completed in the first quarter.”
Domestic
rice exporters hope that trade counselors will provide them more market
information and that the Ministry of Trade and Industry will help farmers and
enterprises in accessing to processing industry and investing in laboratories
of international standards in the Mekong Delta.
According to
Nguyen Trung Kien, President of the Gentraco Corporation, “The VFA and trade
counselors should continue to support businesses with information on quality
management, food safety, and plant quarantine, the TPP roadmap for rice
products, tariff policy, commercial disputes, and technical barriers.”
The VFA and
rice exporters all agree that to improve the rice value and be able to sell
for demanding markets, there’s no other way to step up the brand building for
Vietnamese rice.
VOV5
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Chủ Nhật, 13 tháng 3, 2016
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