Three Vietnam crops, namely coffee, rubber and rice, have been ranked in the world’s top ten in terms of export turnover.
Last year, the country exported around 800,000 tons of coffee beans, earning more than US$1 billion, second to Brazil, and 4.7 million tons of rice worth US$1.3 billion, second to Thailand. Rubber exports, meanwhile, fetched US$1.5 billion, ranking Vietnam fifth after Thailand, Indonesia, India and Malaysia in terms of revenue.
Vietnam has been ranked second in rice export after Thailand over 10 consecutive years. During the past two years, the country earned US$2.7 billion from exporting approximately 10 million tons of rice.
The Southeast Asian country is predicted to hold second place among world rice exporters in 2007, generating foreign currency earnings of US$1.3 billion
Many countries around the world have become rice consumption markets for Vietnam with ever-growing demands pushing up volumes and prices. After Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), its export markets have expanded, as the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan are all big rice consumers.
Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development predicted that if the target is reached, Vietnam will remain the world’s second largest rice exporter and may even overtake Thailand to become the number one rice exporter.
Vietnam currently ranks fifth in rubber latex output after Thailand, Indonesia, India and Malaysia, with China regarding as its key market.
Vietnam’s rubber-growing area is more than 0.5 million hectares, mostly in the southeastern region, the Central Highlands and some areas in central Vietnam.
Under the joint-venture model, the Vietnam Rubber Corporation has carried out a project to plant rubber on a total area of 0.2 million hectares in Laos and Cambodia. Apart from maintaining growth in output, the corporation gained bigger profits from exporting rubber at a price double a year earlier.
To reach export turnover of US$2 billion in the coming years, Vietnam’s rubber plantation should be developed strongly in terms of area, output, capacity and quality.
So far, Vietnam’s coffee export has surpassed the US$1billion mark, taking second place behind Brazil. In Robusta coffee, Vietnam is second to none in the world.
According to the Ministry of Trade, for now and in the future coffee remains a sensitive product subject to unforeseeable fluctuations in supply, demand and price. Therefore, practical measures should be taken to avoid the improper expansion of coffee growing areas.
In recent years, Vietnam’s export turnover from farm produce has reached annual growth of more than 20 per cent. In 2006, export turnover of agricultural products hit a record high of US$7.2 billion, up 20 per cent from a year earlier. In the agricultural product group rice, rubber and coffee are all listed in “The US$1 billion export club”. (Labour)
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