Vietnam rice exports set to soar
HANOI - Vietnam expects to export around 4.2 million tonnes of rice by the end of 2003 and regain its status of the world's second largest exporter after Thailand, officials said Monday.
The Southeast Asian nation lost its place to India after exporting only 3.2 million tonnes of rice in 2002, said a spokesman from Trade Ministry.
The war in Iraq, the biggest importer of Vietnamese rice in 2002, forced Vietnamese exporters to find new markets which resulted in a number of fresh orders from African countries.
Vietnam has realised its target to export 700 000 tonnes of rice to Africa this year, with the three main markets being Nigeria, Algeria and the Republic of Congo.
The country also won a contract to export 150 000 tonnes of rice to Brazil in 2004.
Rice is Vietnam's top agricultural export earner. Southeast Asia accounts for 34 percent of Vietnam's rice exports, with Indonesia and Philippines being the two biggest importers.
Africa takes 21 percent of exports, the Middle East 16 percent and the Americas 10 percent.
Vietnam's rice farming sector has undergone a major transformation in the past decade. A net importer of rice before 1989, it became the world's second biggest exporter 10 years later on 4.5 million tonnes.
Agence France Presse - December 22, 2003.
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