Hanoi (VNA) – Amidst the increasing demand for raw materials in the food,cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries, and Vietnam’s participation in variousfree trade agreements, the country’s herbal products, particularly cinnamon and star anise, arewell-positioned to capitalise on the opportunity for development, heard a conferencein Hanoi on September 28.

Addressing the event, Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Vietnam TradePromotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade stressed that with adiverse and abundant source of medicinal herbs, Vietnam boasts great potential andadvantages to develop this field into an economic industry.
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The cinnamon cultivation area in Vietnam stands at about 150,000 ha,accounting for 17% of the global cinnamon area. Vietnam is the third largestproducer and exporter of cinnamon in the world in terms of output, afterIndonesia and China. Meanwhile, very few countries have star anise – the plantis widely grown in Vietnam and China.

Theexport markets for items and products from cinnamon, star anise, and medicinalplants have been increasingly expanded due to changes in consumer awareness.

Vietnam's farming and processing of cinnamon and medicinal plants have gradually moved to a sustainable development stage inthe direction of gradually reducing raw products and traditional farming,increasing intensively processed and competitive products, and promoting valuechain-based production.

This is an advantage that can help add value to Vietnamesecinnamon products and medicinal plants in the future, helping Vietnam become animportant supplier of cinnamon and medicinal herbs in the global market, participantssaid.

Regardingthe market, Vietnamese cinnamon and star anise products are heavily consumed in many countries in South Asia  (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan),the Middle East (the United Arab Emirates (UAE), East Asia (Japan, Taiwan(China), the Republic of Korea), the US and those in Europe.

Vietnam's export value of cinnamon and star anise hascontinuously increased over the years, reaching about 276 million USD in 2022. However,the figure remains modest compared to the market of medicinal herbsworldwide.

Bui Trung Thuong, Trade Counselor at the Vietnam Trade Office inIndia, said India imports around 11-12 million tonnes of spices annually.In the fiscal year 2022-2023, Vietnam exported 32,650 tonnes of cinnamon,accounting for 85% of India's cinnamon imports.

Headvised businesses to strengthen their connection with Indian partners to learnfrom and apply the cinnamon processing technology from India, towards producinghigh value-added products.

Accordingto Do Ngoc Hung, Trade Counselor at the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, Vietnam’scinnamon export to the market reached about 50 million USD in 2022,accounting for 35% of the total cinnamon import turnover of the US.

Participantssaid that to compete in the global pharmaceutical market, synchronousinvestment is needed, from expanding scale and developing medicinal growingareas to applying science and technology to ensure quality standards anddiversify products.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada recommended cinnamon andmedicinal businesses consider participating in the 21st SIAL Canada – the largest foodinnovation trade show in North America - to be held in Montreal in mid-May 2024, andthe Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA)’s nutritional food fair in earlyApril, 2024 in Vancouver./.