Vietnam needs to promote brand building for rice exports.

While 2020 has been a successful year for Vietnamese rice exports, more must be done to accelerate the development of the national rice brand, experts have said.
Rice export prices in Việt Nam jumped to their highest point since December 2011 last week, as a shortage of containers sent freight rates soaring and pushed Thai prices to a near four-month peak.

Prices for Việt Nam’s 5 per cent broken rice hit US$500 per tonne, from the previous week’s $470-$490, Reuters reported.
A shortage of containers has made it difficult for traders to ship rice to customers.
For instance, freight rates for a 20-feet container to Africa have risen to $5,000 from $1,500 a couple of months ago.
Meanwhile, at the World Rice Trade Conference 2020 held by The Rice Trader (TRT) in earlier December, Vietnamese rice ST25 was named the second-best rice in the world. Last year, it was given first prize in Manila, the Philippines.
The TRT World Rice Conference is the largest annual gathering of commercial and professional rice industry participants in the world.

This is good news for Vietnamese rice and the rice exports are forecast to grow strongly in the future.
The prize is also an opportunity to create a brand for Vietnamese rice, according to the agricultural experts, because after more than 30 years of exporting, Việt Nam’s rice industry only has a national brand logo.
Thailand and Cambodia have branded their rice to improve promotion activities on the global market and create confidence in quality. Meanwhile, local traders could not gain high prices for high-quality rice without a national brand.

Việt Nam is among the world’s top rice exporters with the value the second highest in the world. Therefore, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently approved a project to develop Viet Nam’s rice brand. Specifically, by 2030, Việt Nam is hoped to have stable, efficient and sustainable regions producing rice for export to build the world’s leading brand in food quality and safety for Vietnamese rice.

Credit: Vietnamnews