Hanoi (VNA)ꦰ - Vietnam will seize the opportunity in the international market to elevate rice exports at a premium price, while still preserving food security, a senior government official has said.

Nguyen Hong Dien, Minister of Industry and Trade, made the statement at a meeting, which reviewed rice exports in the first half of this year. They also set forth solutions concerning the export management for the remainder of the year, organised in Mekong Delta city of Can Thơ on August 4. As of August 1, Vietnam's 5% broken rice price was offered at 590 USD per tonne, the highest level in 11 years, an increase of about 80 USD compared to the previous month and 35 USD lower than that of Thailand. For fragrant rice, the average price of exported Vietnamese Jasmine rice reached 690 USD per tonne, up about 80 USD from the previous month. After India issued a ban on rice exports, the price of rice on the domestic market has also been increased between 50 and 100 VND per kg per day. According to Tran Duy Dong, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)'s Import-Export Department, Vietnam shipped abroad 4.84 million tonnes of rice valued at 2.58 billion USD in the first seven months of this year, up 18.7% in volume and 29.6% in value from the corresponding time last year. The average export price was estimated at 534 USD per tonne, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%. Asia continues to be the largest regional export market in the first half of this year, reaching nearly 3.3 million tonnes, accounting for 77.7% of total exports, up 35.8% over the same period in 2022. The Philippines is currently Vietnam's largest rice import market, accounting for nearly 40.1% of total exports in the first six months, up 7% year-on-year. China ranked second, making up over 16% of the total export volume, an increase of 60.7% year-on-year. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that as of August 1, localities harvested 24.2 million tonnes of unhusked rice. The national rice output is expected to reach 43 million tonnes this year. With the current situation, the country is likely to meet domestic consumption and exports, he said. Cuong also noted that El Nino can affect rice production but its impacts in Vietnam might be less severe than in other countries thanks to the adoption of some measures such as restructuring crops and innovative cultivation practices. According to Minister Dien, in the first months of 2023, the world situation continued to record complicated and unpredictable changes, which greatly affected economic growth, controlled inflation and ensured balances of the domestic economy in general and rice trading activities in particular. However, with concerted and drastic direction and management of the Government, the Prime Minister, the MoIT and other ministries, agencies and localities, rice exports achieved positive results. He also pointed out some shortcomings that should be dealt with. For example, rice exports mainly focus on a number of traditional and key markets while ignoring the exploitation of new markets which have a lot of potential. The planning of cultivation areas and orientation of rice production does not really match with the signals of the market, the official said. Due attention hasn’t been paid to the development of linkage and cooperation mechanisms between rice traders and exporters and producers so it failed to secure a stable and high-quality source of goods, meeting the requirements of import markets, he went on.  To take advantage of market opportunities and promote rice production and export in the long term, Dien emphasised that ministries, agencies, localities, associations and traders should actively coordinate with the ministry to ensure the consumption of rice and unhusked rice at a favourable price for farmers. They should also balance export and domestic consumption, and contribute to stabilising domestic rice, and facilitate export. Participants at the meeting suggested that the authorities create favourable conditions and support enterprises, cooperative groups, and farmers to access post-harvest preservation techniques and reduce supply-demand pressure. It is necessary to have a policy that aims at diversifying rice export markets, bolstering traditional and key export markets and developing new ones. This will serve to ensure sustainable export and the brand name of Vietnamese rice, they said./.