Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The UK market still has considerableroom for Vietnamese rice suppliers to boost exports thanks to the UK-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) tariff quota and the Vietnamese community of morethan 100,000 people in the UK, a senior trade official has said.

Vietnam ranks 15th among countries exporting rice to the UK,making up a modest 0.42% of the total import turnover to this country. Thatmeans the door is wide open for Vietnamese rice in the market, Nguyen Canh Cuong,Trade Counsellor at the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, told Vietnam News.

The UKVFTA took effect on May 1, 2021, with a preferential tariffquota granted to Vietnam at a tax rate of 0%, enabling UK buyers to have morechoices of rice varieties from Vietnam, Nguyen Van Hieu, Export Director at LocTroi Group told Vietnam News.

However, before having experienced a surge in rice purchasing powerfrom the UK market since January 2022, Loc Troi witnessed an eight-monthoff-peak trading period in 2021 due to the complicated developments ofCOVID-19. "Since the pandemic is under control, travel between countriesbecomes easier, and interest in Vietnamese rice grows up, requests for ricesupplies from UK’s partners continually knocks on our door," Hieu added.

To further tap into the UK market, Loc Troi would continue toensure its sustainable rice value chain, with clear planting and residuescontrol procedures to provide high-quality rice products for the UK market, Hieusaid, adding that the priority would also be given to expanding the riceplanting areas and applying the planting area code and traceability.

Meanwhile, it would still focus on creating favourable conditionsfor traditional buyers of Loc Troi in the UK to increase their import volumesand teaming up with the Vietnam Trade Office in the UK to find reputable andcapable intermediary partners to bring Loc Troi's rice products into the UKhypermarket system.

"The company will also make the most opportunities to meetnew customers at trade fairs and seminars," Hieu told Vietnam News.

Turning potential into reality

Though untapped potentials exist in this market, to turn them intoreality Vietnamese rice growers and exporters need to thoroughly apply GlobalGAP on a large scale while promoting the production of high-quality fragrantrice, according to Cuong.

He suggested the Crop Production Department, the Plant ProtectionDepartment and authorities of provinces with large rice-growing areas implementprogrammes on supporting farmers in rice varieties, safe agriculturalmaterials, milling and rice storage before exporting.

According to other trade experts, to create a larger marketbreakthrough and strengthen a sustainable position for Vietnamese rice in theUK and other major markets, the Vietnamese rice industry should implement abranding strategy suitable for each market.

The national brand programme needed to select high-quality andhigh-yield rice varieties to name them in a simple, easy-to-remember,easy-to-pronounce way along with the place where the rice was grown (Soc Trang Vietnamrice, for instance) or the name of the creator of that rice variety (like MrCua's Rice) to register for brand protection abroad easily.

In 2020, the volume of rice imported into the UK rose 13.5%year-on-year to approximately 763,000 tonnes from 672,000 tonnes in 2019, inwhich rice shipped from Vietnam rose to nearly 3,400 tonnes, worth 2.67 millionUSD, from 1,300 tonnes, valued at over 1.29 million USD.

Cuong said Vietnamese rice exports to the market in 2020 sawimpressive increases of 116% in volume and 106% in value compared to theprevious year.

However, the UK rice imports saw a year-on-year decline of 15% to652,000 tonnes in 2021. The corresponding import value decreased 8%year-on-year to 574.7 million USD from about 520.6 million USD in 2020.

Last year, the rice supply from Southeast Asia also decreasedsignificantly, with rice from Thailand dropping 43%, Myanmar (63%), andCambodia (51%).

Despite a decline of 20% in rice export volume to the UK,totalling over 2,730 tonnes in 2021, Vietnam's export value is still up 4%year-on-year to around 2.76 million USD, thanks to a hike in exported prices.

Among Southeast Asian countries that exported rice to the UK in2021, Vietnam enjoyed the highest average unit price at 1,012 USD per tonne,while that of rice from Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar stood at 999 USD, 991 USDand 502 USD per tonne, respectively.

Vietnamese rice in the UK is mainly sold to the Vietnamesecommunity and part of the Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, and Filipino communities.Popular Vietnamese rice brands in the UK include Golden Lotus Premium JasmineRice, Longdan Rice, Buffalo Saigon Fragrant Rice and Buffalo Brand NorthernVietnam Glutinous Rice.

According to Cuong, his office has implemented a wide range ofactivities to promote the Vietnamese rice trade in the UK, including connectingrice importers in the UK with Vietnamese rice exporters, participating insolving administrative procedures for Vietnamese rice exporters and Britishrice importers, organising six events on promoting some Vietnamese riceproducts in addition to providing information to domestic enterprises about thedemand and tastes of rice consumption in the UK and UK regulations on trademarkregistration.

Vietnam is currently one of the five largest rice exporters in theworld. The Southeast Asian country shipped 3.52 million tonnes of rice in thefirst half of 2022, earning revenue of 1.72 billion USD, up 16.2% in volume and4.6% in value over the same period last year, according to the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development.

The Vietnam Food Association has forecast that despite thefluctuating import market and strong competition, the country's rice exportsare estimated at 6-6.2 million tonnes, equivalent to that in 2020 and 2021, andto earn 3.2 billion USD in revenue./.